


The Faded Line

by TheStarsShadow15



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Organized Crime, Original Character(s), Romance, Slow Burn, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2018-07-28 18:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 84,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7652659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStarsShadow15/pseuds/TheStarsShadow15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a darker universe, Judy never got the chance to prove herself and Nick's life got complicated without the sly bunny. As an activist group gains power, the unlikely duo must work together to help determine the fate of a broken city. On their way they discover forbidden emotions for each other and a conspiracy that could change Zootopia forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome the the Jungle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you're reading this right now I want to thank you for giving this story a chance. I'll try not to disappoint you. I've always had stories to tell but am horrible at getting them out, and this here is more or less my first successful attempt at telling a full length story.
> 
> I want everyone to know that this story is gonna be full length, and full of far more than Adventure and as the categories have listed it. Kinda stinks you can only have two categories…
> 
> For any returning readers, you should notice there are some major changes and just everyone should know in general that I now have an editor! If he had any stories I would demand go check them out because he is a phenomenal editor and I can't thank the guy enough. He and I have put countless hours into fixing the mess that is my writing. On the previous version of this chapter, it took us around 8 hours to fix everything!
> 
> So all in all, if you like this story, aim a TON of thanks to my editor uomoape! And welcome to my story. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia, only this story and the original characters I have created for it.

**The Faded Line**

Chapter 1: Welcome To The Jungle

Zootopia isn't the most densely populated city in the world, but more times than not there would be at least _some_ mammals around.

With the twelve different ecosystems and districts to accommodate for the vast variety in animal species, it can be expected that someone is always going to be enjoying themselves not far from where you are.

_BUT_

This time, it could truly be said they were out in the middle of nowhere. Far into the mountains located in the Rainforest district, what mammals generally refer to as 'out of town.' If anyone would head out there, it's usually to visit the Cliffside Hospital. So, sure there were mammals a few miles away, but from here to there? No, not really.

So it's only natural that one would question why there was a group of mammals in the middle of nowhere.

Well to start answering that, the scraggly looking fox leading the group is Nick Wilde. Not your average mammal by any means. Normally it could be expected of him to be conning animals out of their money, but considering there was no one around, probably wasn't the case this time. No, this time he was doing something rather out of character. He was fighting for a cause. A cause that will help all predators in Zootopia… Eventually… Maybe... That was the plan, anyway. However, months after he joined the group, no change was achieved. The only thing that changed was his opinion of his comrades and their idea of 'predatory rights' and how to fight for them. Thus, the seed of doubt was planted in his head about this whole mess.

What he did _not_ question however, was how he felt about the treatment of predators in the city of Zootopia. Where the slogan "anyone can be anything" was both accurate, and yet the farthest thing from it. Accurate for _prey_ perhaps, not predators.

Not since the TAME system was introduced. For the peace of mind of all prey, predators were required to wear a shock collar once they reach a certain age or stage of physical development, whichever comes first.

It makes sense that prey would be cautious of predators given their nature and the instincts imbedded in everyone, but for them to oppress more than 10% of the population which is around several _million_... There's no good reason for that. Not even the occasional nutjob is enough to warrant such a treatment.

And yet, there's still an absurd level of fear gripping Zootopia. Even with the collars on all the predators, the city was in a constant state of paranoia. Paranoia is basically fear under the skin, and fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and that leads to even further oppression. As if there wasn't enough of that already.

To add insult to injury, having collars made it very difficult for predators to find a decent job, which has led to poverty rates skyrocketing. Because of all this, prey now commonly view themselves as superior. They have treated some predators, for example a young red fox who was just trying to join a cub scouts pack, as nothing more than a pelt.

Stuck up snobs...

Certain animals will even go so far as to purposefully irritate predators so the shock collars will go off, sometimes even physically assaulting them. And of course said predators couldn't fight back else they would get shocked more. Cause how dare they actually defend themselves from the prey. Or is it the predator now...?

So naturally there were activist groups attempting to fight for the return of rights for all predators and the removal of shock collars. Some groups tried to go political, only to quickly get shut down by the vast majority of voters. Others have gone criminal only to get shut down even faster by the ZPD. And then along came this one.

Nick wasn't sure where to categorize these fellows. And that thought alone helped convince him to join their cause. They weren't like the others, so maybe they had a chance. Before they appeared in his life, the fox had convinced himself that he was perfectly happy making an ok living off of all those judgmental prey with his tricks and cons. Then some shady looking preds approached him after observing a successful con and brought up the common fantasy of life without the collars.

As an adult mammal of 33 years old, and wearing a collar for almost two decades, he wasn't new to this prospect. He would've had an argument with them over the futility of their effort, and how no other activist group managed to even come close to such a feat, only to find a bag on his head as they drove him somewhere. Nick must have somehow lost consciousness, because when he awoke he was in a warehouse and NOT wearing his collar.

And for the first time in a _long_ time, Nick felt free. Free to laugh, free to run around screaming with joy like a kit on Christmas morning, and free to feel powerful emotions. And so, he smiled the most genuine smile he had for as far back as he could remember.

And then it came back on with a resolute CLICK and an uncomfortable tightness around his neck.

A second later he heard and felt the collar charging its electric shock against his neck. His fur and tail bristled in response and he fell back into a familiar state of dreariness, one that accompanied him for two decades.

Of course he wanted more of that delicious freedom, every sane mammal would, but that meant he had to join a cause. Something Nick was not much for after... That one incident. He was about to walk away from them and their hopeless cause when someone he hadn't heard or seen before materialized to his side.

Nick couldn't see much of him as he was wearing baggy pants like him and a sweater with the hood on, but he was a red fox. Just like him. And _man_ , did he have a similar story. Except he wasn't one to give up so easily, and that made him think. Maybe Nick could be more like him, maybe this wasn't just another sinking ship fighting against a hurricane out on the ocean... With a broken mast... And a limited crew. Maybe they'd actually do some good.

Maybe...

So he joined them, and for a time everything was well. They didn't make any colossal breakthrough, but they were gaining a massive following, and that motivated them enough. A few things have happened in the following months that have made him doubt his decision though, like the incident with the otter a month ago. ' _Whatever,_ _I'll figure it out soon enough'_ he told himself, trying to remain the most positive he could. Perhaps he still hadn't seen an accurate representation of them yet.

Not that Nick could fairly judge them considering his own way of making a living, but almost all of the mammals that he's encountered in this little group have seemed too shady for even his liking. Like that polar bear with a Russian accent who always looked far too murderous for Nick to be comfortable around. Or that deranged raccoon with a serious mental health problem centered around stealing and pickpocketing.

And then there's... well Nick didn't know _what_ to call him to be fair. But the _other_ fox. Nick had yet to really work with the guy as he was unsurprisingly the coordinator and therefore worked behind the scenes. In the time Nick had interacted with the other fox, he seemed a ton like him. Witty, sly, clever... Nick really just wasn't sure what to think in general of these guys. There's bad and there's worse.

What of course compelled Nick to stay with them was the promise of more freedom from the collar. Especially the curious fact that the other foxes' was broken or something. He only wore it while in public and the little light didn't even flash anymore.

It's not like the things were hard to remove. They were rather simple devices really. And in all honesty they _were_ designed to be comfortable. That was the one and _only_ adjustment activist groups were able to achieve before getting unceremoniously shoved back under the societal rug.

The reason it wasn't a good idea to remove them is that they must had had some sort of sensor in them that alerts some building in some place, somewhere. Then they'd send some enforcement agents to capture them and bring them to a sort of jail. And they _always_ found them somehow. They would be seen again though, usually a little worse for wear, but unharmed and with a new collar on them.

' _Stop reminiscing and focus Wilde,'_ Nick chastised himself. He was getting lost in his thoughts, and he couldn't afford that, since even the smallest detail could give him away. Like that stupid blinky green light on his collar, it would be a dead giveaway that someone was lurking around the shadows. Like a fox during the night for an example. So for the mission he, and the others he was with, put little covers on the stupid light.

The target was the building ahead of them that was surrounded by a chain link fence. An ex-military one apparently, like some old technology testing facility or some such. Whatever it was, it once had a large enough need for secrecy that it was built way out here in no-mammals land. The building looked like it was forcefully placed here as all the surrounding wildlife was trying to take back its property. All the vines, branches, and plant life was only trimmed back a few feet from the fence line.

Nick's group, which comprised of two wolves and himself, were told a specific reason as to why they were here, but he knew it was a lie. He himself _is_ a liar. When you know how to get away with a lie, you know how to detect one. A fox couldn't fool another fox...but he could fool the dumb dumbs next to him...

Who wouldn't _. Stop. TALKING!_

Stupid timber wolves... Nick never was fond of them. He was lucky they didn't start howling for no good reason, but _apparently,_ it being a full moon tonight _IS_ a great reason. Hence the debating, since they weren't so dumb as to think it'd be a good idea, but were considering it nonetheless.

Currently they were just waiting in the dense foliage of the jungle until the shift changed. Then the plan was that Nick would sneak in through a backdoor that an inside source would leave open for him, while the two timber wolves would... do... something he hadn't been told. Compartmentalization so said ol' what's-his-face.

Speaking of him again, Nick really didn't-

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed two guards leaving through the front door, greeting the replacements as they leisurely walked in. Idly chatting about how boring the place was no doubt. Nick couldn't say he was impressed with how little effort the guards were putting into doing their job.

The guards walking the outer perimeter, who also happened to be timber wolves, were so nonchalant about their duty they might as well had their phones out. _Slooowwllly_ walking down the fence line, looking around once in a blue moon, and then returning to their slouched composure. Nick was confident enough in his stealth abilities, even when the guards would actually do their job. This would be like stealing carrots from a dumb bunny.

Alright. Time to go.

"Hey, ding dong's." Nick hissed over to his right. Both wolves immediately snapped their attention to the fox, ears perked straight up and eyes wide open. "Let's move."

Without another word the three left their hiding spots and Nick ran down the fence line to a point where he noticed none of the patrols were really going: the corner of the perimeter. It was too far for the lazy bums no doubt. Looking up at the fence he noticed that the top had several strings of barb wire. Guess he was going under.

As he started digging under the fence just enough so that he could slip underneath it, he smirked at the stereotype he was sort-of-but-not-really fulfilling. A canine digging under a fence to get out, or get in this time... He wasn't a dog, he was in the canine family yes, but...anyways.

After he wiggled himself through the shrewdly created limited space, he looked around to make sure neither guard was nearby, then bolted the rest of the way to the building.

Nick pressed himself against the wall, and started to worry about how exactly he was getting into the building. The fact that this was once a military compound continued to baffle him. Not only were there no lights around the building, shouldn't there be...

That's when he looked up and nearly jumped out of his fur as he noticed a camera a few stories above, looking _right_ at him. His heart started thumping wildly in his chest, he could practically hear it in his ears. He tensed up and closed his eyes, preparing for the deafening alarm that was sure to go off any second. Hopefully the collar wouldn't go off. It was gonna get really loud, really soon...

Any second now...

But it never came. Nick squinted his eyes open and looked at the camera again. It was still staring at him. So, clearly they saw him... but no alarm.

Perhaps the inside source was the surveillance guy? ' _Is hustling mammals just an ability all foxes have or something?'_ Nick wondered.

Refocusing on the task at hand, Nick unstuck himself from the wall and began creeping his way around the back of the building, keeping an unsteady eye on the cameras perched up high.

As he approached the destination, he heard voices approaching from around the building so he pressed himself against the wall once more. ' _WhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?_ '

His heart started to pound again and even though he couldn't see it, he was sure the shock collar was flashing its yellow warning light. ' _Should I run? Fight them? I was never good at fighting. Hustle them?... Possibly._ '

The voices were getting louder and he could almost start making out what they were saying. He started preparing himself to talk his way through when-

"Oh, Mack, hold on." A deep husky voice said. "The Watcher just said there are some timberwolves at the front gate causing a scene. Said we should try talking to them. He'll open the back door for us to cut through."

Nick let out the breath he didn't know he was even holding. _The Watcher_ must be their surveillance operator who was on their side. How convenient. Snapping out of his thoughts, he decided that the backdoor would be his way in. Figuring it wouldn't be open for long, Nick swung around the corner and kept low to the ground. Peeking around the corner, he scanned the area looking for the door, and noticed an opening in the wall 20 meters to the left where a large garage door resided, probably large enough to fit two medium size cars side by side. And lo and behold it didn't shut all the way, leaving about a foot gap, plenty enough space for Nick to get through.

As he slipped inside, the fox was met with near pitch black darkness apart from the small sliver of light coming through the opening. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust even with his natural night vision, and when they did, he couldn't believe what he was looking at. He was in a bloody room of requirement! He had been told it was going to be like a garage but _not like this!_

Nick sagged his shoulders and neck and groaned at whatever powers are above this world. Nothing in his life was _ever_ easy.

This was a bloody storage room and he was sent to find a needle in this damn haystack. He hardly even knew what he was looking for. No scratch that. He didn't know at all. Apparently _it_ was to be left out for him to find _it._ Thanks for the specificity buster! Whatever the thing was, it had better be worth it.

There were piles and mountains of miscellaneous junk everywhere in this place. There were more crates than anything else but there were also old antique cars, tools, signs, pieces of art, an old rusty incomplete set of armor. An awful lot of this stuff looked like it belonged in a museum, not some old military facility. What the hell was he looking for?

He tried to spot anything that was obviously left out for him to take as he walked down the crudely carved out paths in the mess. As the minutes ticked by, Nick started walking faster and faster. He might not have much time. With the pressure growing on him, the fox became quite frustrated, quietly growling at the ridiculousness of this task.

The place wasn't too big, a bit larger than a standard football field. But when filled to the brink with piles of junk that reached the height of an elephant, it suddenly seemed _A LOT_ bigger. Nick's fur and hackles were rising from how frustrated he was becoming as more time passed. Couldn't they have made this easier!?

He wasn't on a strict time limit but he needed to hurry up and find it before-

CLANK! Flip. Buz buzz buuzzz.

Before _that._ The guards from before returned and turned on all the lights. Nick slammed his eyes shut from the sharp change in brightness. Being a fox and an animal with night vision, his eyes were a bit more sensitive to strong lights than others. _That's gonna cause a headache_ , he thought. Where were his sunglasses when he needed them? Who woulda thunk that he'd need them during a nighttime operation?

Nick opened his eyes the tiniest amount so he could move around. With his vision still distorted, he crouched down and tried to orient himself so he could determine where the exit was. Considering he was in the middle of a storage room that looked like a hurricane had blown through it, there was really no reason to be nervous. There was no way those dumb dumbs would notice him. NO way at all.

But just in case he turned a wrong corner or they came across him, Nick got up and slowly started moving. The paths through the junk weren't straight and organized like streets, they curved and split off and it was just a general maze. Nick was doing his best to stay out of their way while also heading back to the door when-

"Wait, Gary, hold on… You smell that?" _Scat_. They smelled him. Shoulda thought of that. Welp, time to abandon ship.

Feeling a surge of adrenaline, he was about to bolt for it when he heard a loud _TING_ followed by a yell. Then some more grunts and sounds of a fight taking place along with a lot of yells. A few moments later, moments that felt like ages with the adrenaline, it calmed down.

Once he was sure it was over, Nick started creeping his way through the maze once more. He nearly jumped out of his fur when he quite literally ran into another mammal. It was another red fox. No, not just another red fox, it was _him,_ the cute little groups' leader _._

Who wasn't really the easiest fellow to recognize considering he was, and has always been, wearing a dark grey sweater with the hood on. But as far as Nick has ever been able to tell this fox's fur was a bit redder than his own. His snout longer and pointier if that was possible to imagine. The most recognizable of his features though were his blood red eyes. Foxes didn't usually have red eyes; he'd only ever seen a weasel with that color. All in all he looked much more predatory than Nick.

While Nick fought to compose himself, the other fox just stood there, glaring at him. "And what are you doing here?" Nick breathlessly said, then took notice of the metal bat in the fox's right paw. It even had a little blood on it...

"Saving your sorry tail. I heard from The Watcher you couldn't find your IOI. Let's move before more guards show up." The other fox gruffly said as he walked away and quickly out of sight.

"Eye oh eye? What a cute military like codename there Red. Care to speak in english?"

"Item of Interest!" He called out from somewhere in particular. Sound bounced off of everything in here, it'd be impossible to location someone with hearing alone.

Instead of following him, Nick curiously searched for what happened to the guards. Not too far away he found them. They weren't dead, or at least he didn't think so, but they didn't look good. One of them was a cougar. Completely sprawled out on the floor, face down and a little bit of blood on the back of his head, clearly showing up with his beige fur. ' _A stealth knockout_ ', Nick surmised.

The other was a coyote. He was mostly hoisted up onto a nearby box, hind paws just barely above the ground, snout facing to the side. As Nick got a closer look at him, he saw that this guard clearly put up a fight after his partner went down. His face was bruised, probably a black eye forming and perhaps some damage to his snout as there was a little blood trickling out. And that was just his face; his torso could be rather battered too for all Nick knew. He was no doctor.

While his ally did just save him, Nick couldn't help but feel some remorse and even anger that there had to be some collateral damage. Their mission was to help _all_ predators overcome the weight that society has put on all of them. Just like everyone else, these guys were wearing shock collars as well. Which no doubt really put them at a disadvantage against their attacker.

" _We are all on the same team here,"_ the other fox had once told him. Nick scoffed at the thought. Sure didn't seem that way. While this was the first time Nick had personally witnessed any casualties, there was another mission about a month ago, Nick's first big one to be exact. The mission was to capture and interrogate an otter when some members found out that he wasn't supportive of them and was instead more on the side of prey.

Nick himself didn't capture the poor mammal but he helped orchestrate the operation by learning the schedules of the shop, getting to know him as he knew everybody, and had gotten in at the last minute it was open. After he had been taken, Nick took some time to observe the cute little flower shop, it was nothing too special. What bothered him was the picture of the otter and his family behind the counter. All dressed in knitted sweaters, one of the two kids holding a soccer ball and all smiling warmly at the camera... One happy family. They all just looked so...friendly. So peaceful. Even with the collars on them. They didn't need help. And Nick's new group of friends were a far cry from helping them.

But at the time Nick brushed it aside, giving them the benefit of the doubt that they'd have better intentions for everyone in the future.

The other fox suddenly appeared in front of him and in his right paw was a large black cauldron. "How exactly did you not find this? It was _RIGHT_ by the door like it should have been."

Of _course_ it was. Since there was no other obvious place to put it in a room like this, put it right by the door. Nick was about to berate himself for being so stupid when a realization dawned on him. "Wait is _that_ what we came here for? A _frickin' POT?!"_

"Yup." The other fox said, holding it up and smiling broadly at it like a child who just found a new toy. "Isn't it beautiful?"

All this trouble for something you could get at a Targoat!? Nick gritted his teeth and reached his paws forward and imagined himself strangling the life out of the other fox. Said fox didn't even notice. "Alright," he said, looking back just as Nick tried to look normal. "Let's go then."

The two foxes ran down the heinously cluttered paths, dodging and weaving their way through what felt like a junkyard obstacle course. Making their way through the mess via their own respective paths, Nick felt like a rivalry was forming and did his best to stay ahead. The other fox seemed to have similar thoughts and purposefully jumped into Nick's path so he couldn't get ahead. Shortly after, an old car that was hoisted a foot or two above the ground came into their path and instead of going around it, the other fox used his momentum to slide under it.

Nick was about to do the same thing when-

 _ **ZZZTT!**_ "Gah!" Nick yelled out as the shock collar activated and delivered a shock to his neck. The little competition between the two had caused Nick to forget to monitor his heartbeat. _Rut this thing!_ Nick mentally screamed.

Unfortunately because of the pain, his eyes instinctively closed shut and the fox tripped over his own paws, causing Nick to _NOT_ slide under the obstacle and instead faceplant into the metallic husk.

 _...Rut this thing too._ Nick groggily thought after a moment when he may or may not have seen stars.

For a moment or two Nick just leaned against the car in defeat. He'd catch up to the other fox later... but he did need to go. Trying to compose himself he detached his flattened face from the car... and just about fell over in the process.

"Mind the car!" The other fox called back, amusement evident in his voice. He must've heard the resonant _THUD_ when Nick hit the damned thing. "And the laser trip wire by the door. It reactivated since you took so long."

Nick sniffed resolutely and put a paw to his aching face. After he reminded himself once more he needed to get going, he slowly ducked under the car while giving it a glare for good measure and stumbled the rest of the way to the exit.

Since the lights were now on, it was obvious where the trip wire was coming from and Nick was about to step over it and get out of there when something stopped him.

His _conscious_.

Nick grumbled at that revelation. Since when did he have a problem with anything morally questionable? He's been conning mammals out of their money for years and has never felt more than a little tinge of guilt. So what was it? Just that those were predators back there and he had promised he'd do all he can to help all predators alike? Was it the added frustration that it was all for nothing? All they came for was just a frickin' pot!

...or was it just the way his face ached and tingled from just a smack, and he figured those guys back there were in a far worse condition right now?

He looked back towards the direction of the downed predators. Both might be in need of medical help... Making up his mind, he _accidentally_ swept his foot through the laser that was right before the exit.

Immediately the alarm went off and red lights started flashing inside the room. _RANG! RANG! RANG! RANG!_

Cringing at the sheer volume of the siren and pressing his ears down to his skull, he almost didn't notice the garage door beginning to shut. Reacting quickly he log rolled under it and continued running towards the fence and the dense jungle. Before he managed to reach the fence, the other fox appeared by his side and demanded, "What happened?! I told you to watch out for the-"

"Something else must have set it off!"

"Well then what took you so long?"

"What, you don't trust me?" Nick asked while placing a paw over his heart, "I'm hurt buddy. I was just taking my time stepping over it so I wouldn't set it off."

The other fox just rolled his eyes at Nick's antics and replied in a lower voice than usual. "Fine, but I'm not your buddy, friend."

"And I'm not your friend, pal." Nick said with just as low of a voice.

Even with the alarm going off in the background and the urgent need to _get out of there_ , for a moment the two of them stopped and just stared at each other, neither backing down. Then they both smirked, though for their own different reasons.

Without another word between them they both took off towards the outer perimeter of the grounds and to relative safety. In the distance Nick could see their fellow agents also retreating from the front gate, after the guards ran back inside the compound to investigate the alarm.

Mission successful… ' _But did it matter? All we got was a piece of junk. Is this worth fighting for? Did I do the right thing?_ 'Nick's mind was flooded with these questions as he ran. He wasn't sure he liked having a conscious. Best get rid of it.

* * *

The two foxes made their way back via the interconnected trains to the Savannah district, which they needed to traverse to reach their destination. Happytown. The sardonically named section of the city that is largely inhabited by the _further_ repressed predators of society.

Each time Nick had a meeting or a call to action with these guys, they'd meet at a different location and time. One time they all met in a predator friendly park in the middle of the day. Families walked around, mammals were running and the sun was shining. None of the predators gave them a second thought. But of course every prey gave them the stink eye for being in a group out in a socializing location. Because how dare they.

After going down and out an alley the foxes came to a stop in front of an old worn down warehouse. On the front wall above the large dual doors was a rusted sign with faded paint that once no doubt held the title of the place. The walls had paint peeling off them and rust forming in its place. Many of the windows on the front and the side were broken and if they weren't, they had dirt or mold covering the majority of its surface. Given that they were pretty close to the bay now, the area had a distinct rotting wood smell.

"Lovely place..." Nick mumbled, giving it a look over.

The fox next to him sent him a sideways glance and then grunted as he slid one of the wooden doors over so they could enter. Once Nick was inside he turned back to see the fox closing it behind them.

Inside was a sparse collection of wooden crates that had been sitting in the damp climate for far too long, and right in the center of the room was a big and rusty cradle, large enough to fit a small fishing boat. The ceiling was pretty high above them and Nick had to wonder if the second floor just had more crates in it. Considering how dilapidated this place was, Nick was slightly curious why they were still so many wooden crates. Maybe they acted as shelters for the numerous homeless.

This was definitely an old boat maintenance warehouse given the proximity to the bay. Things like fishing, boat maintenance and shipping were this district's primary function in the city of Zootopia, before it became the predator's refuge. Once the TAME system got approved by the government the bay area of Savanna Central was restructured and became Happytown.

"Hooonneeey I'm hoooome!" The other fox suddenly yelled out, startling Nick out of his reverie.

Then all at once, several overhead lights turned on that Nick had _definitely_ noticed were there, and a bunch of animals appeared from behind crates and other hiding spots. Nick noticed that a weasel, quite literally, popped out of a tall crate. ' _Pop goes the weasel,_ ' Nick thought with a smirk.

They all started talking quite animatedly at the same time, asking questions about how the mission went like a bunch of excited kits at Christmas. Without a word, the other fox slowly brought the black cauldron into view. Nick couldn't believe it; as he slowly moved it into view, everybody went silent. _Dead_ silent. They all looked so eager to see the reveal.

Then with a quick flourish, he held it up above his head with both hands and everyone started cheering... for the attainment of a pot. Nick grimaced at the noise, feeling a bit of a headache from earlier and shook his head. ' _These guys are nuts_ '. When he saw the weasel that popped earlier joining the crowd, Nick's jaw just about dropped to the floor as he recognized the matted fur and the toothpick sticking out of his mouth. ' _You've got to be kidding me... they really are nuts._ '

The weasel started talking to a tiger, but Nick walked up to him anyways and said, "Well well well, look who it is. Duke freakin' Weaselton. What're _you_ doing here?"

At the unrecognized voice, the weasel immediately spun around and crouched low to the ground, ready to spring into action, as in... Running. But once he saw who it was, he stood up and responded with a sneer.

"What's it to you Wilde, shouldn't you be meltin' down a Popsicle instead of doing something useful?"

"Ha." Nick laughed, though without any humor behind it as he crossed his arms with a smug grin. "You call terrorizing random prey and stealing pieces of _JUNK_ _useful_? What've you done so far huh Duke? Sold a pirated movie or two and added on a few words about our savvy group? I, in fact, _do_ do more important things than that Wesselton."

"It's _Weaselton_..." The weasel quietly spoke as he avoided eye contact, knowing he was already defeated. Duke had hardly partook in any missions so he couldn't even try and argue. All he had really done so far was relay minor pieces of information and help recruit some new members, even though he was practically a new recruit himself.

"Don't get your tail in such a knot Wilde." Said the friendly rich baritone voice of the tiger that was standing nearby as he leaned down to Nick's level. If the fox recalled correctly this guy was referred to as Delgato. "Duke is a predator just like us, which means we're all on the same team here."

But instead of responding, Nick looked away with a frown thinking of the collateral damage to other predators again. Noticing he was still irritable Delgato frowned and added with a nod behind the fox. "If you got a problem, talk to The Hood. Don't take it out on fellow members or we're all going to have a problem very quickly." When he said 'The Hood' Nick's ears perked up. ' _So that's what they call him. Rather uncreative… how'd that conversation go?_

" _What should we call him?"_

" _I don't know, he wears a hood all the time so how about The Hood?"_

" _Brilliant!"_ '

Delgato gestured to some place behind Nick when he mentioned The Hood, so when he walked off with Duke in tow, Nick turned and looked for the only animal he actually wanted to talk to here.

Nearby one of the walls, Hood appeared to be fiddling with some circuitry and a bunch of wolves were crowding around him. If Nick heard correctly a while back, The Hood was apparently a borderline genius with electronics, so he was clearly educated in some manner.

Nick was just about in talking distance when the object he was working on, a radio, turned on. Unfortunately for him, and everybody else, it was at full volume and since it was hooked up to a speaker system in the building, it also caught some feedback. Nick's ears folded back and he crouched down, holding them in pain. His poor senses were really taking a beating tonight.

After some hasty fiddling, the feedback ended and the radio switched to the station they wanted.

"-for listening to the Bucky and Pronk show on 103.5 ZM, 'Timely Radio'. Next up is a classic hit from a few decades ago, if you know it, be sure to text us at 867-5309 for a chance to win $1000."

As the song started off with a catchy electric guitar solo and everyone around him cheered, Hood stood up with a triumphant smile and Nick saw his chance.

"Hey Hoody!"

In perfect synchronization _everyone_ turned and looked at Nick. No one ever called him anything apart from Hood or The Hood if you didn't count the occasional attention grabber. For a moment Nick was thrown off balance by all the pairs of scrutinizing eyes, but he wouldn't be deterred by a little judgement. When has that ever stopped him... Right?

"I need to talk to you!" Nick yelled out over the growing music. Again like clockwork, everyone turned back to look at The Hood, who just nodded in response and walked on over.

Nick just opened his mouth to start talking when the lyrics of the song started and the group that was surrounding 'Hoody' started singing along as loudly as they could.

_Welcome to the Jungle! We got fun and games!_

_We got everything you want. Honey we know the names._

The Hood turned and smiled at everyone as other animals joined in and just started acting crazy and dancing. A full blown party had clearly just taken off, but Nick was never much for parties and was hardly amused. When The Hood turned back and saw this, his smile vanished.

Without even having said anything yet, the leader of the group already knew what was up.

"Alright, come with me. We'll talk somewhere quieter and maybe get a drink or two." He said as he started walking out towards the doors.

"I don't drink." Nick yelled out in response over the cacophony of noise and music.

"Of course not." The Hood called back as he opened the doors and turned around. After putting a hand on each side of them and leaned in towards Nick, he smiled that smile that must be exclusively a fox thing. "A fox like you is too high and mighty to drink his more troubling thoughts away amiright?"

Once more Nick was finding his own thoughts quite conflicting. He was usually great at thinking on his feet, but tonight he just felt... off. Might have something to do with his poor damaged senses. His mouth hung open a tad as he thought, and was about to respond when all the wolves behind them started howling for some reason.

Nick looked back at them and shook his head in irritation and The Hood just chuckled. "Come on." He said as he walked out the door, leaving it open for Nick to walk through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Like always, please do make sure to tell me your thoughts in reviews or something. All artists love feedback.
> 
> And you may or may not notice but I always love to plant little Easter eggs in my writing. Just a fun little thing I do for my own kicks and giggles. Usually references in the form of dialogue or some background detail. Tell me if you noticed any of them!
> 
> Fun fact: My editor catches 98% of them so that an automatic win.
> 
> And so far with what I have planned each chapter is gonna have a name of a classic rock song. 1000 points to you if you recognize all of them (The points don't matter)


	2. Don't Stop Believin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Innumerable amount of thanks to my editor once more. These early chapters were such a mess. For those of you who read the original version, how did you guys stand all that weak stuff? XD And for future memory sake, I posted this chapter almost exactly one month after the first one.
> 
> Disclaimer: Still don't own Zootopia. Just this story and its characters. Are these necessary every time?

**Chapter 2: Don't Stop Believin'**

There are moments in your life when you are absolutely focused on one thing and one thing only. In those moments everything around you becomes a blur, except for the object of your attention.

There are also moments in your life that are just awkward, like when you walk up to serve a table and see two red foxes in a tense staring contest, neither moving the slightest. ' _If looks could kill_ ,' the waitress thought. One was wearing a messy green Pawaiian shirt and blue stripped tie, the other a dark grey sweater with the hood on. Neither looking like the most savory of characters, even for predators. The female leopard looked between the two with an eyebrow raised and then nervously walked off. ' _I'll... come back later_ ,' she resolved.

After a few more moments, Nick spoke while maintaining eye contact. "So who talks first? You talk first, I talk first?"

The Hood just chuckled and finally broke eye contact, and casually looked over to the bar to his left. "If this conversation is going to go how I think it is, we're going to need some drinks, and I do believe we scared that poor gal off a minute ago."

"I'm not interested in drinking." Nick growled. His shock collar blinked yellow in warning which caught The Hood's attention. He sometimes forgot how overly sensitive those things were. The one he was wearing no longer held a threat and was more of a memento than anything.

"Riiight." He drawled, looking back at Nick. "You just want to have some ol' serious talk with me. Lemme get a drink first and then we'll chat."

Nick had no real objection to that so he just sat back while The Hood got the attention of the leopard waitress again. In the meantime Nick, for the first time since he arrived here, really took in his surroundings. He wasn't much of an extroverted mammal so going to a popular bar or tavern like this place made him a little uncomfortable. Just about each stool by the bar that was in the center was taken and the majority of the booths around it were as well.

What really stood out to Nick though was that even though the majority of the animals here were predators, there was also the occasional prey. And they didn't look nervous, depressed or scared in the slightest like the other 99% of them. Like that buck sitting at the bar for example. Granted he was just keeping to himself and not talking to others but he looked perfectly relaxed. Of course, that could just be the alcohol's work, as Nick could see signs that he had gone through a couple of drinks already.

"Alright." The Hood suddenly said as he set down the beer glass he was just taking a lengthy drink from, bringing Nick's attention back to him. "Let's see if I got this right. A young destitute fox once had a dream that he could surpass the stereotypes of foxes and joins some goody-two shoes group. Let's say Cub Scouts for the fun of it. This goes horribly wrong for whatever reason and he's forever scarred."

"Fast forward to the present day, and the same fox is now some kind of con artist and decides to try again after seeing all the _scat_ this city is capable of. Maybe now as an adult he could do some good. So he joins a popular predator rights activist group, but after some time with them, he has become dissatisfied that they're not doing any good judging from what they've done so far and wants to leave to go and do his own thing once more." The Hood paused here and took another long drink from his beer while keeping eye contact. Even without seeing his lips, Nick could tell he was amused. So he just stared and did his best to keep an impassive face, but The Hood already saw through it.

"Sounds about right?" He smugly asked as he set down the drink with a soft clink.

Nick tried his best to think of something clever to say, but he had nothing. He was too stunned by the accuracy of The Hood's prediction. _He_ was usually the one who predicted animal's past and called them out on their intentions. Must just be another fox thing.

Taking his silence for an answer, The Hood leaned in and spoke again but this time with a much quieter and deeper voice. "Listen kid, we're doing a good thing here. You just gotta give us some time to-"

"A good thing?!" Nick yelled out and The Hood calmly leaned back. He would've continued if a sharp jolt of electricity coming from his collar didn't stop him. Nick scrunched his muzzle up to prevent a yelp of pain to escape him. ' _Rutting hate these things.'_ Nick thought for the second time this night.

Recomposing himself, and with a much quieter voice but no smaller amount of malice behind it, Nick continued. "You guys are terrorizing innocent animals, stealing pieces of junk, rallying cute little protests, having cool little hideouts and secret handshakes and nearly killing _anyone_ who gets in your way. I'd hardly call that a good thing."

The Hood rolled his eyes and sighed. " _That's_ what's bothering you? The two guards I took out while saving your sorry tail from getting busted? That's just a little bit of collateral damage!"

"Maybe you didn't hear me, Hoody. I just listed off several other things that are bugging me about your cute little group as well." Before the Hood could respond, Nick lifted his right paw and pointed accusingly at him. "And how many beers should I bet those aren't the first victims of your _collateral_ damage. When you went and captured Mr. Otterton, did his wife and kids happen to fall in that category too? Clearly whether they're a predator or not doesn't matter."

"And going from that, how much should I bet that you've also taken out quite a few prey mammals from some unresolved anger issue you have towards them? Considering you're leading a group of vicious activists, I'd imagine you have a pretty big bone to pick with them. Maybe you were once close with some prey and once the collars were introduced you felt betrayed. And now you hold that anger against them all. Sounds about right?" Nick smugly smiled with his signature eyes half lidded look. The tables were turned. Two could play at this game.

The Hood's once passive face slowly morphed into a scowl during the tirade. ' _This guy is used to being the top dog_ ,' Nick thought. This made him smile even more.

"Let's approach this from another direction." The Hood said, a smile returning. But this one wasn't the usual mischievous one that Nick had grown accustomed to seeing on a fox's muzzle. This one looked...malicious, and that admittedly made him feel a little anxious.

"If you decide to leave, you would only gain another enemy, and considering how you already have the ZPD on your tail, I would _not_ advise that."

"Firstly, your cute little group of lowlife criminals doesn't scare me Hoody. And secondly, the ZPD can't touch me. They don't have anything on me and probably don't even know I exist."

"It's not the pawns you should be afraid of. It's the queen." The Hood growled with his eyebrows furrowed. Given the shadow created from the hood, and the already dim lighting, The Hood's blood red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and once more Nick felt unsettled by him, but his sly mind caught a little detail, and he just couldn't let this opportunity slip.

His next movements resembled more those of a sloth than a fox. Slowly, his mouth hung open, his eyes widened, and a broad smile started forming on his muzzle, before nearly yelling, "I _KNEW_ you were a female!"

The effect was instantaneous; the other fox reeled back into his seat, aghast at the way Nick just took his threat. "What? No it's-"

"It just makes perfect sense. The emo nature, the mascara, the hood..." Nick mumbled to himself, ignoring the Hood's attempts at regaining control of the conversation.

"It's a meta-!"

"All your crazy emotions and empty threats, it just all adds up now."

"Listen here you insolent little shit, you have no idea who you're dealing with. I will tell you one last time, if you leave us, you _will_ regret it. You will not escape us, no matter where you go my pawns will be there waiting for you. If you betray us, you will have _hell_ to pay." The Hood growled as he lunged forward and grabbed Nick by the throat.

 _It's too bad he isn't wearing a collar anymore, he surely would've gotten zapped_ , Nick thought

"You and your empty threats." Nick softly said, utterly unfazed. Seeing it wasn't doing any good, The Hood ripped his paw away and Nick winced. It almost felt like he pulled some fur out with those claws of his.

Keeping his composure, Nick continued. "You once told me you were involved in some military group up until a few years ago. So let me put it this way, I've been outsmarting mammals and living off the streets since _I was 12_. You've only been on the streets for a few years. So to sum it up, you're going to try and beat me at my own game, send a bunch of lowlife criminals I've known for years after me, and hope the ZPD finally gets a grip on me."

Leaning forward with a vicious sneer, showing off his sharp canines, Nick added, "Challenge accepted, Hoody. Catch me if you can."

Without another word, Nick stood up and walked out. The Hood didn't follow him with his eyes. He just kept glaring at where that infuriating fox last sat. As the bell rang, signaling someone leaving or entering, The Hood quietly spoke one last time.

"Game on then."

* * *

If everyone stared at their reflection first thing in the morning, the world would be so much different. Seeing yourself without all your walls up, bags under your eyes, and your messy fur in all its glory is always a thought provoking experience. A sort of mini existential crisis commonly occurs. 'Who are you? What're you doing with your life?'

This is exactly the case for a young grey bunny named Judy Hopps. As she stood in front of the small bedroom mirror, only wearing her undergarments that she wore to bed, and not having any masks up yet, she once more had to come to grip with what was happening to her under the uniform she was about to put on.

Almost 9 months ago she arrived in Zootopia as a brand new cop fresh out of the academy, valedictorian of her class to boot. As a kit, she envisioned Zootopia as this great city, where everyone got along with each other and "anyone could be anything." But whoopsie, cold splash of reality to the face, a child's understanding of the world is hardly ever even close to accurate.

Even though she grew up on a carrot farm in Bunnyburrow surrounded by only prey, she was still aware of the TAME system. All predators that were developed enough wore shock collars that were made to protect you from their aggressive primal instincts. As not many predators were around her in her life, she never thought much of it.

After living her whole life working towards the single goal of becoming an officer, she finally completed the academy and entered Zootopia, expecting it to be this beacon of light in the world, only to find, double whoopsie, that light died a couple decades ago. Specifically when the collars came into existence. Now all predators were automatically deemed dangerous, untrustworthy, and therefore feared and ridiculed. Which is exactly the opposite of what has been her childhood vision of the metropolis.

And whoopsie number threesie: she had thought that being assigned to Precinct One, the city center, considering she was the valedictorian of her class, would mean that she'd get to truly make the world a better place. Get assigned to some big and important cases, solve some complicated mysteries, end corruption. Especially in this city that clearly needed someone like her.

But nope. Parking duty.

' _Ok,_ _I can handle this_. _I'll be the best meter maid there ever was.'_ She told herself the first couple of days during the monotonous and arguably useless position, challenging herself to write at least double her quota to prove she was capable.

Then a few weeks passed and all the anger and resentment being thrown her way for doing her job started _really_ getting to her. So for the sake of her sanity, and that of others, she purposefully slowed down her pace so she'd only write about half as many tickets. She'd argue with herself that this way she _was_ making the world a better place by granting mercy.

But instead of this being a temporary position like she figured it to be, months passed and this was still her primary job. She would also, of course, have paperwork for everything she did. Once in a blue moon she'd be told to go do traffic control at some busy intersection or go clean up this street, or patrol a couple blocks around an elderly care home. That last one she swore had to have been a joke... but alas, it was not. She was positive her fellow officers were getting a crack out of it though.

She had wished an innumerable amount of times for a criminal to run in front of her while she'd be doing parking duty so she'd be able to experience a police chase. Be a _real_ cop for once.

She wanted to stay optimistic and to continue believing that things will get better. It's always darker before dawn right? But where was the line between being optimistic and being delusional? That optimism very well might be a fantasy at this point. But she had to keep hoping!

Bringing her already tired mind back to the present, she shook her head of such downer like thoughts and got herself into motion. After quickly putting on her uniform and badge, and running out the door, she was ready to face the day with a only slightly forced smile.

Then, as one of the first things she got to see today, a truck drove by a group of predators and splashed a large puddle onto all of them as it had been raining hard last night. To make it worse, it startled a majority of them and she both saw and heard several of them getting shocked by their collars.

Well that smile sure didn't have a long life span.

As she rode the train to the station, all of the daily cases of predatory mistreatment stuck out like a sore digit to her. She was rather ignorant of them the first couple of months that she was in Zootopia, only really caring about her presence in the ZPD and how mistreated she was there. But the depressed aura that all the predators in the city gave off started really wearing down on her and demanding her attention. And the constantly paranoid state of mind all the prey were in, even though preds were wearing shock collars was just absurd. She could barely hold a conversation without them frantically darting their eyes at every moving predator within a two block radius.

For example, currently across from her sat a friendly looking tiger. He was wearing a blue business suit and tie, reading the newspaper, and even had a faint smile on. Perfectly friendly looking fellow. But when he first sat down, all the prey nearby, either standing or sitting, scooted several feet away from him and sent him dirty looks as if _he_ did something wrong.

Maybe it was better to just... ignore all of this. Go back to how she was when she first came here. Be like that tiger who simply didn't notice... Ignorance _is_ bliss after all.

Once Judy arrived at the precinct she figured she already looked rather tired from her troubling thoughts so she breathed in deeply and plastered on a small smile, hoping it didn't look too forced. ' _If you pretend to be happy for long enough, you might become so on accident,'_ she reminded herself.

Today could still be a good day if she held her head high and made the best of her surroundings. You are what you make of them after all. If you just-

"Hey, bunny! Ready to go maid those meters? They're not gonna take care of themselves after all! Heh heh heh." A particularly annoying and nasally voice called out teasingly. A few of the officers walking by chuckled, regardless if they had a suspect or some other important matter on their paws.

Said _bunny_ stopped cold. She was on a path to the bullpen, doing her best to avoid the vicinity of the receptionist and his lackies. It would make more sense if predators were the mean ones, as that's just in their biology. But these days, so many prey mammals were no better than dirt.

' _Don't antagonize him. Don't antagonize him. Don't antagonize him.'_ The angel bunny on Judy's shoulder voiced.

' _Why not? He antagonizes me. He deserves it.'_ The devil one countered.

' _An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind said that one goat, or llama. What was his name...Ghandi?'_ Judy reminded herself.

Taking a steadying breath she kept walking forward, taking the pacifist path.

"Well it's probably for the better huh. Otherwise that cute little bunny would probably get stepped on out there or eaten by some vicious predator." The same nasally voice said again.

_...Rut it._

The devil on her shoulder won. Judy stomped her way over to the receptionist, a tall ibex that she didn't recognize was leaning against the desk, no doubt encouraging the perpetrator as the one in question wasn't usually this much of an _ass_. Said culprit behind the desk, a mule by the name of Alejandro just smiled arrogantly at her as she approached.

The smile faded rather quickly when Judy hopped up onto the desk, put her hands on her hips and started smiling in a rather discomforting manner. She looked far too mischievous for a bunny, like she had something malicious planned and the thought was tickling her. The expression looked more fitting for a fox.

"You're not usually such an _ass_ Alejandro, do you enjoy fulfilling that stereotype? Or is your jaw hurting so much from yesterday, that it's causing you to feel irritable…" She paused here, giving Alejandro a fake chance to speak. When he tried, she continued, "Oh wait, or is that your pride?"

If the mule didn't have such dark fur, a blush surely would've shown. Alejandro leaned back and started sputtering random words, trying desperately to think of a comeback. The ibex raised an eyebrow in response. So while keeping on an eye on the smug looking bunny he leaned in and asked, "Sounds like there's a story to be told here Alex. What happened?"

"Uh, nothing. I just lost a spar is all!" Alex quickly said, nervously looking between Judy and the ibex. Silently praying she didn't-

"Oh I wouldn't call it nothing." Judy jovially said as she jumped off the counter and started walking towards the bullpen once more. "He only got his _ass_ handed to him and got knocked out by that _cute little_ _bunny_ in the ring yesterday."

Alejandro cringed and put his burning face into his waiting hooves. He could feel the ibex's questioning gaze on him. What happened in the ring usually _stayed_ in the ring. Though he supposed, that was always just the courtesy of the smallest member in their force. Who was also quite the force to be reckoned with in the ring, as he discovered yesterday. Others had warned him, but he didn't believe that a bunny could generate such powerful kick.

The shamed mule rotated his jaw experimentally. Yup, still hurt.

Inside the bullpen all the animals were rough housing and talking loudly about their no doubt _interesting_ cases they've been given. Maybe today was the day she could finally join that sort of social group, once she was given an actual case. She smiled as she imagined finally being accepted among her fellow officers.

Hopping up into her seat with a smile, excited at the possibilities, she looked to her right to see a rhino named McHorn. He had been gone for a time, helping out at other precincts and doing some undercover missions or some such, so this was the first time she'd seen him in a while.

"Hey McHorn, ready to continue making the world a better place?!" She asked, holding out her first for their customary fist bump.

Instead of doing the usual, and slowly bumping her fist with his giant one, he gave her a blank look and a snort. "Sure Hopps, cause that's exactly what you're doing every day. Giving out hundreds of fines to make people's day better."

' _Not this again…_ ' She thought as her smile was vaporized.

"I'm just doing my job. It's not like Chief Bogo is giving me a chance to do anything else!" She reasoned with a pleading tone, hoping he really wasn't judging her and was just messing with her again.

"Sure." He said looking annoyed now. The small grin that was there before was replaced by a rather disdainful sneer. "And I bet you're really getting on his good side by giving an undercover cop, like myself, parking tickets instead of focusing on who you _should_ be ticketing."

Her mouth hung open at this. Guffawed at what he was saying, she couldn't believe the gall of this guy. Did he think he was above the law or something? What next? Should she only be ticketing predators because they're not being mistreated enough already?

Everyone here was just determined to make her life here at the ZPD miserable, and today they were on a roll. First the ass at the front counter, and now McHorn was joining in, one of the few mammals who she considered on her side. She was getting a much clearer image of who was really behind that badge and uniform this morning. This rhino clearly had his horn shoved way too far up his-

"Atten-HUT!" The hippo named Officer Higgins suddenly said, signaling the impending arrival of Chief Bogo.

Immediately all the large animals started chanting and pounding the tables in a synchronized manner, the usual entrance tradition for Bogo. Judy never understood why, as Bogo always told them to "Shut It!" as soon as he got up to the podium.

"Alright, alright." He said. They still continued. "SHUT IT!" _See?_ _Now_ they stopped. Judy, who was still fuming from her little exchange with McHorn, just shook her head disapprovingly.

"Only got one thing on the docket today and this comes from City Hall, so this is going to involve all of you." Judy's ears perked up at this. A special assignment from City Hall that included all of them?! That meant her too!

" _Apparently_ , Precinct Three has a standard break-in case on their paws and for some reason are incapable of handling it by themselves, so they contacted the mayor to enlist our help. _I_ see this as utterly unnecessary, but I have no say in this."

As he paused Judy thought to herself, ' _Precinct Three? Isn't that the Rainforest District? What place would be broken into there to garner the attention of the mayor?_ '

"Assignments are as follows..."

While Bogo relayed off all the units names and their respective missions, her excitement rebuilt itself as he got closer and closer to her name. He was sending out everybody this time, forensics teams, detectives, and patrol cops. Surely he'd name her too. She started jumping a little bit in her chair and smiling more than she had in a long while.

"And lastly, Officer Hopps. You're to continue with street and parking duty in Southern Savannah district. That should mix things up enough for you."

She went slack jawed. _Did he just… Attempt at humor? Wait… And give her PARKING DUTY near Happytown?!_

No. _No._ He didn't just single her out when everyone else was given a mission to help out Precinct Three. He didn't just use some skewed sense of judgement to determine that she wouldn't be of help.

_But he did._

This day was just doing everything it could to squash all attempts at optimism. And this blasted water or cape buffalo, whatever the rut he was, was just determined to keep her in a useless position wasn't he?

Bogo had just taken a step away from the podium, folder now empty of its case files when he heard a _not so chipper_ voice say, "Chief Bogo. A word." He knew that voice, he knew that tone too. Officer Hopps wasn't happy with her task, _again_. And it took her all of 5 seconds to determine that, too. New record, she must be learning to restrain herself.

The long time standing Chief of Precinct One, who has dealt with far more horrors than most could imagine, heaved a heavy sigh. _This bunny._

This little grey bunny has caused him more migraines than all other officers combined. They have had an innumerable amount of arguments and debates already. Why must she add another to the ever growing list? But he knew the answer already; it was because she was a trier, a blind optimist, and wanted her "deserved" glory.

Without looking at her, he spoke, cutting to the point before she could. "Before we say anything that you're going to regret, let's go to my office and chat there."

The fire raging inside her somewhat fizzled down from hearing Bogo trying to keep the peace between them, so she just nodded and followed him up to his office. Once they were inside Bogo slammed the door shut, startling Judy a little.

Figuring he was probably just trying to intimidate her, she jumped into the chair in front of his desk that was big enough for an elephant to sit in, and sat down with her arms crossed and brows furrowed. She was determined to not give him what he wanted. The buffalo felt quite similar about the situation.

Once Bogo sat down he clasped his hooves together, leaned forward with a sneer and said, "Now _speak_. What's your problem _this time_ Officer Hopps?"

The fire had died down a little when Bogo seemed to be trying to keep the peace, but the not-so-veiled condescending tone to his voice galvanized it.

"You assigned me parking duty _again_ , when everyone else was assigned a task to assist Precinct Three with the break-in."

Bogo just looked at her with a flat expression. "So?"

Judy's mouth fell open. ' _So? SO?!_ _This blasted buffalo. What dya mean 'SO?!''_

"Sir, I've been doing parking duty for nearly nine _months!_ Allow me to do something else and get some experience." She pleaded as she stood up so she could at least be at eye level with Bogo.

"And why should I Hopps? What else are you good at? What else can you do?" He challenged with a steel cold glare.

"Well sir, if you'd just _let me_ show you, you could see that I am actually capable of being a real cop-"

"A REAL cop?!" Bogo yelled. "Let me explain something to you Hopps. Just because you had a dream as a kit about solving big city cases and doing heroic things, doesn't mean it will come true."

"But sir, I was the valedictorian of my class, surely that means-"

"I _don't care_ how well you did in the academy. The only reason you were assigned to _this_ Precinct is that the Mayor took a liking to you while you were going through the academy and wanted you here _. That's it._ It doesn't matter how badly you want something, it's about what you are capable of."

"How _DARE_ you!" Judy yelled. Bogo snorted angrily in response, and the rabbit could almost see smoke coming out his nostrils. "You are so wrong Sir. You don't know a thing about me."

"I know _plenty_ about you Judith Laverne Hopps. You think the world will accommodate for a cute little bunny and predators _won't_ take advantage of such a diminutive cop. You think the world is like some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and your insipidlittle dreams magically come true!"

The words echoed in her head. ' _No, no that's not true_. _I can handle myself...right? Wouldn't I be able to?_ '

For a few moments, it was quiet in the room once more, but the tension could've been cut with a knife, so Bogo decided to end it. "So LET. IT. GO. This is the real world Hopps. You are just too small to handle it."

 _That_ woke her up from her stunned silence.

"Sir hasn't the thought ever crossed your mind that if a smaller animal were taken in and you needed them to talk, that intimidation just _might_ not be the best approach." Judy said, her tone taking on a much more diplomatic tone that two moments ago.

Judy's new angle in this argument threw Bogo for a small spin. He actually blinked and leaned back a tad, which only encouraged her.

"If a smaller mammal were brought in, would it not make more sense to have a smaller officer try to talk to them? We both know how well big and small work together in the workplace, don't we?" Judy said, gesturing to the two of them. Bogo wouldn't do it, he wouldn't grin. His facial muscles near his mouth twitched upwards a little, refusing his brains orders. ' _You traitors._ ' Judy let herself smile a little upon seeing this. Perhaps a rapport could form after all.

"What if a small animal is brought in during this case? I would be the perfect candidate to talk to-"

"I'll stop you right there Hopps." Bogo interjected with a raised hoof. "The chance of that is _very_ unlikely. And don't you forget _who_ makes these decisions. Need I remind you who is the _Chief_ here and who is a simple _meter maid_."

Annnnd all possibility of a rapport gone and the fire rekindled. He played the end-game card. _He always_ played that card and she hated him for that.

"You're dismissed Officer Hopps." Bogo growled.

Knowing she had no more ammo, she got out of the chair with a huff and threw the door open. As she was about to walk out, she had to add one last thing. Something she honestly wondered.

"Why was I given the title 'Officer' if I was never going to be one?"

And with that hanging in the air she stormed off, leaving the door open as a final 'rut you' refusing to look back and see what she assumed would be a further enraged Chief. She wasn't far from wrong, he did do his best to send daggers flying at her with his eyes, but alas, no super powers. But after a moment or two, his gaze softened and he looked down to the side contemplatively.

He always made the point to all other precinct chiefs and City Hall that he cared the most about his officers. That he did his best to get them the best protective gear, did his best to support the best officers in Zootopia in all the ways that he could. He reasoned that that included keeping them from harm. Or in particular, keeping Hopps from biting off far more than she could chew. But it was more than that and he knew it, she also just wanted to be recognized and get her glory. So he shook his head of such thoughts. They would only lead him down the path that she wanted him to go... But… _No..._ Well...

As Judy stormed her way to the garage, the few remaining officers who were still roaming around the building made sure to steer clear of her.' _That bunny's on a warpath_ ' many of them thought.

When Judy left the building she expected to be walking out into the sun, but when she looked up into the sky she noticed that the once clear blue sky, was now a dull grey. Clouds covered the sky as far as the eye could see and the air was significantly cooler. Granted because this was part of the Savannah District, so they wouldn't last long...right?

Looking back down she was greeted with the image of the mostly empty parking lot, save for a small little rabbit sized vehicle. Her not-so-favorite meter maid car or the 'Jokemobile' as she christened it.

As she walked up to it, she imagined as many different scenarios of destroying it as possible Perhaps throwing a Molotov cocktail at it and watching it burn with a grim satisfaction? Somehow getting it into a trash compactor? Convince Francine to kick it like a soccer ball into the ocean? Letting it fly off a canyon Thelma and Louise style?

She hated the thing. It was like an embodiment and reminder of her failure in this city thus far. She wanted the cruel reminder gone, she wanted it destroyed. But against all her wishes, all of her desire every day for it to quit existing, it remained. Kinda like her versus the chief...

So with no lesser amount of enthusiasm possible she put on the orange vest and hat that were lying on the seat. She didn't even bother putting them away anymore; no one else would ever take 'em. In fact she _wished_ someone would take them.

Judy sat down with yet another sigh; this was becoming far too common of a thing. Her getting angry, fighting with her boss, wanting to destroy this stupid car, sighing like some depressed lump of fur.

A few more moments passed of her stewing in her tumultuous emotions about her current situation in life. She was about to start up the Jokemobile when one of the large cruisers pulled into the station. She wouldn't have noticed or cared if the driver didn't pull into the spot _she was currently parked in!_ The car was so big it comfortably loomed right over her own. And to make matters even better, the driver was currently blasting music so loud Judy couldn't imagine how the driver would hear _anything_ apart from it.

"Working hard to get my fill! Everybody wants a thrill! Paying _any_ thing to roll the dice, just one more time!" A male voice yelled out, singing along so loudly the actual lyrics were overpowered. Judy cringed and her sensitive ears went flaccid to protect themselves.

" _Working hard to get my fill, everybody wants a thrill! Paying anything to throw the dice, just oooonne moooore tiiime."_ A male voice horrendously sang along so loudly the actual singer was overpowered. Judy cringed and even though her ears were pressed against her head, they were still sensitive and screamed in protest.

" _Don't stop beleivin', hold on to that feeelllaaang."_

' _Don't stop believing huh,_ ' she thought with a scoff. ' _And why not_?'

Before she could continue with that particularly morbid train of thinking, a different one crashed into it. A soft voice echoed in her mind. It was a memory of a few months back when she called her parents and her mom had a more-in-depth-than-usual talk with her after her father left to take care of some rowdy kids in the background. Even back then she still wasn't very happy meter-maiding full time, less so though because she was only a couple months in.

"..things will work out if you truly believe they will hun. You are what you make of your surroundings after all." Her mother, Bonnie, had told her with an encouraging smile. Telling her to continue being a light in the suffocating dark city of Zootopia. Judy had smiled then too, because she knew she was right.

Now...? Her mom was still right. She can...she can still be that light. But she was just not so sure anymore where the line between being an optimist and a realist lies. One thing was for sure, she's getting a lot angrier with the world, and that's such a foreign emotion, she's not sure what to do with it.

It sure felt good to let a significant amount of it out on Alejandro though, she reminded herself with a twisted smile.


	3. Highway to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sometimes things really just don't make sense. (Physics I'm LOOKING AT YOU) This chapter was quite long in my master document and ended up being the shortest one. But I still really liked how it turned out so it's all good. And it only took something like 3 hours for my editor and I to blow through it. Man that guy is good. In this chapter Nick and Judy finally meet if you're looking for that.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Zootopia as far as I'm aware, just this beloved story of mine of the characters that I've created. Not the Disney created ones.

** Chapter 3: Highway To Hell  **

Growling isn't something rabbits do. That's more of a predator thing right?

Well over the course of the past few days, Judy found herself doing that more and more. Ever since that argument she had with Bogo, she's been on a particularly short temper with the world. Even angry recipients of her tickets stopped cold after receiving a glare from her. What makes it worse is she had to be careful not to bring up her lack of interesting tasks for the sake of not getting fired. So _NO_ complaining.

Bogo has never directly threatened to fire her because of their arguments for reasons unknown, but she secretly believes that he understands why she keeps picking fights with him. Or it could be the simple matter that she's never really given him a reason to fire her. She's not insubordinate nor does anything wrong, she's always very to-the-book. A fact that probably infuriates him as she wouldn't be surprised if he was looking for excuses to fire her. Then again... The arguments... Either way she knows she's been walking on thin ice so she has begrudgingly not mentioned all the other chances at proving herself that she's been missing lately.

Over the past couple days, more and more break-ins occurred and investigations have been started. None seemingly having any connections apart from the fact that they're all well executed by the criminals and they cover their tracks well.

Because of this frustration, she's been far less merciful with her parking tickets than she has been in months, pumping out multiple hundreds a day once more, which has of course pissed off a large percentage of the population. But what did she care? Everyone in this broken city is only out to serve themselves anyways. She's just joining the ranks.

But then that voice in her head always returned and said, "NO... no no you can't do that." She had to remain optimistic. Don't stop believing and all that jazz because-

Oh look it's that con-fox again.

'That con-fox' being a red fox she has seen multiple times ever since she started her meter maiding. Always up to something he was, perfectly fulfilling the stereotype surrounding foxes. Out of sheer curiosity (and boredom) she investigated him for a day to see if he really was up to no good, and sure enough, he was. He'd almost always trick some poor soul into buying an elephant sized Popsicle for him and his 'son', which she quickly figured out, was actually an adult fennec fox. He'd remake a couple dozen smaller 'pawpsicles', sell them, then sell the 'pawpsicle' sticks as 'lumber' to construction mice in Rodentia.

Now, of course she wanted to arrest him, report him or SOMETHING, but again she was just a meter maid and at that point in time she already knew _for a fact_ that Bogo would have none of that. For that _would_ beinsubordination and would give him a reason to fire her.

She also just couldn't bring herself to tattle on this particular fox because... Well. They had a rather... _interesting_ first meeting. They didn't even talk; it was just eye contact, but it felt like she saw his true self for a moment. Since then, she's just sort of left him alone, keeping to herself and her parking tickets and sending the occasional glance his direction.

Which Nick very much took notice to. Every time that meter maid bunny was on the same street as him, her pace would become significantly slower. She'd give out a few tickets, look at him, give out a few more, and send another glance, rinse and repeat. He wasn't entirely sure why that cute bunny would always look at him but he imagined it had something to do with their awkward first meeting.

It was a number of months ago and Nick had been forced to stay up all night to save his skin from a few unhappy customers of another one of his cons. And since he was so stark tired, instead of walking all the way back to his bridge, where he'd usually sleep under, he rode the train. Won't be doing that again.

Before he got on the train, he figured it'd be too early for most mammals to be going to work . As it turned out, around 6 o'clock was practically the pre-rush hour for all the early morning mammals like construction, law enforcement and education workers. So even while he tried to mind his own business in the corner of the car, he still got pushed and shoved around by rhinos in those shiny orange vests or pompous deer in tuxedos. Or any of those other prey members that just couldn't satisfy themselves with where they stood. Knowing better than to respond in any way, Nick just kept his head down, and apologized profusely.

On the other side of the car, stood a somewhat fresh to the darkness of Zootopia Judy Hopps, who was also not having the best of mornings. For the first time since she moved here about a month ago, she was really paying attention to what was going on around her. Particularly the mistreatment of the predators. You could thank a rather large-but-friendly cheetah by the name of Clawhauser for bringing her attention to that.

While a month of course isn't very long time to work in a place, she had thought she'd met or at least seen every officer at Precinct One. But then just out of pure coincidence when she was passing by the restrooms, Clawhauser stepped out and as Judy had never met him, she insisted on saying hello. To say he was surprised would be a huge understatement.

They both quickly came to the conclusion that 'this mammal was actually quite nice,' despite how prey usually are this day and age, and despite what predators are usually projected as being. During their short conversation, Ben, as he insisted upon being called, brought her attention to the twisted view society has given to predators.

"Y'know you're such a gentlemammal Ben, why aren't you like the receptionist instead of that ass over there?"

"Oh hohoho, ooohh there's an idea. Yeah go ahead and bring _that_ to Bogo I'm sure he'll get a crack out of it."

Judy nervously chuckled; she'd already had enough bad run-ins with the Chief at this point in time. "Right, well I mean you're really not that bad for a predator, not anything like the others, so I'm sure he'd agree!"

The super friendly smile that had been on Ben's face ever since Judy had started talking to him as an equal faded into despondence. "Most of us aren't Judy," he quietly said while looking away. "I gotta go. I hope to see you later." And that was the last she saw of him for a number of months. Eventually finding out that the reason being is that he works downstairs in records.

Now as she was watching this poor, tired, malnourished looking red fox get shoved around like a ragdoll, she was wondering what he would be like if he wasn't so mistreated. He was good looking enough, she thought with no small amount of shyness, and given he was a fox and their general aptitude for cleverness, he was no doubt intelligent.

As she kept observing him, she forgot she was still staring and he soon noticed. She should've (and usually would've) looked away, but his eyes really kept her locked onto him. Not just the vibrant emerald color of them, but the emotions held within.

Some mammals say that you can see into a person's soul through their eyes. And for a moment or two, Judy really felt like she could. She didn't just see his though, more like she felt what he was going through. All the pain, judgement, hopelessness and fatigue threw her head for a spin.

She wouldn't know for quite some time, but he was thinking similar thoughts. Before he had made eye contact he had seen or rather felt the cute bunny looking at him from across the train car. Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he had to investigate what she thought was so interesting. He didn't expect to see a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes boring into his own as if she was searching for something.

An interesting sight and feeling that was. He could tell that she was having trouble fighting her own darkness. The way that she would smile on and off at those around her, the fluctuations in the way she held herself. She was clearly once quite the optimist, and the city was no doubt doing its best to put out such a harshly bright light. Looked like it was winning. She was a falling angel. Fitting to call her that too cause she was rather...

 _No no no_ , he thought.

Getting rid of those thoughts, he threw up a mask and sent a sly grin complete with a wink in her direction, effectively ending the connection as she looked away in embarrassment. Later he would look back at this memory and fondly think that someone as beautiful as her would be worth fighting for, inadvertently adding an additional reason to why he joined the group. She didn't stay on his mind for long, only until another vixen crossed his path. But then she reappeared on the streets as a cute little meter maid bunny giving out an obscene amount of parking tickets.

Since she had limited to no friends in Zootopia even after all this time, she was admittedly a bit lonely so she couldn't help but be drawn to the fox she shared a short connection with. At the same time she almost despised him for fulfilling his own stereotype and being a con-mammal. In the end, she settled with just observing from a distance and maybe, one day, talking to him.

The feeling was mutual. As a con-mammal, Nick wasn't particularly fond of cops. While he was perfectly aware she was a meter maid and her ability to make arrests was therefore more than a little hampered, the presence of law enforcement personnel still made him uneasy. And even though Nick did his best to not be like the majority of speciest predators, he was still certainly not fond of most prey.

Nick had been so lost in thought while watching the bunny across the street that he _almost_ didn't notice a group of big cats approaching him and his pawpsicle stand.

He frowned. This was a little odd, as Nick often did his best to set up shop far enough away from predator populated areas so they wouldn't fall into his traps like this. If they did so happen to want a pawpsicle (as has happened a couple times) he'd give it to them for free, not wanting to screw over his own kind.

"What you got goin' on here ya pelt?" One of the big cats asked, showing off just a hint of his much larger fangs. His frown deepened, that was a rather derogatory name for foxes and while hearing it from prey never bothered him, as he was used to it, hearing that from fellow predators stung a lot more.

' _They're broadening their scope, not going after just prey, but harassing preds as well now. All the more reason to steer clear of these guys. Just as I thought they reached the bottom, they get a shovel and start digging._ '

Sensing the direction this was heading, Nick mentally flipped a switch to try and salvage the situation, responding with a smile, "Oh you know fellas, just a predator tryin' to survive in a prey world like yourselves. Pawpsicle?" He asked while holding one out.

The one speaking in front, a black panther, swiped it out of his hand and growled. His collar flicked to yellow, warning him. Nick's facade twitched and almost fell, his own predatory instincts wanting to growl right back.

"Look friends, we're all on the same team he-"

"Oh yeah?! Well we _were_ before you _up_ and _QUIT!"_ The panther yelled, but quickly received a sharp shock, making him almost 'meow' in response. Once he recovered he just looked even mask Nick was wearing finally shattered and his face fell into a scowl. So _that's_ what this was about. ' _You gotta be ruttin' kidding me_.' Hood probably sent these bozo's after him. He was about to retort when one of the panther's lackeys, a dark brown lion with a black mane, walked up to the cooler holding the remaining pawpsicles and kicked it over. Spilling the contents all over the street.

Nick was a second away from lunging at them, forgetting the collar and the consequences of being outnumbered when they all suddenly heard a loud feminine voice yell, "Hey!"

Nick looked past them to see...' _Oh no_.' It was that bunny, and she was storming towards them all from across the street. As if the situation couldn't get even worse.

"Hey get out of here meter maid, mind your own rootin' tootin' little business." The lead panther growled.

If the little bunny didn't look angry already, now she _really_ did. Nick almost wanted to laugh at the sight of a rabbit marching towards an angry group of predators. What did she think she was gonna do?

"Actually, for your information Mr. Ragsdale, I'm an officer." She said, flashing the badge hidden under her orange vest. Upon hearing his name, his ears folded back, and simultaneously, all the other predators' ears as well. "Meaning I can arrest your soon to be sorry tail for charges that would include obstruction of justice, vandalism, public indecency given the state of your shirt, and given a little bit of time, which I have _LOADS_ of, I'm certain I could find out about some other less savory activities in your record."

Pausing for a moment, she smiled a _far_ too devious looking smile for a bunny, which did not escape Nick's attention. She was enjoying this! But then in a snap her sharp features returned.

"OR. You could get the hell out of this zip code and if Mr. Wilde here ever sees you or your friends here again, he can come and tell me and I _will_ arrest your sorry tails _that_ time. AM I understood?!" She barked out, using an imposing tone of voice that was making her seem much larger than she actually was, simultaneously reminding everyone of some kind of drill sergeant.

The big cats, which were feeling rather small suddenly, all feebly nodded and began to walk off when she spoke up again.

"And Mr. Scar!" The lion who kicked over the cooler flinched, and turned around slowly. "Before you join your friends with your tail between your legs, why don't you clean up that mess you made. Unless you'd like to test my patience, 'cause I haven't actually gotten to arrest anybody yet and I _AM ITCHING_ totry that out _._ "

With a glare that could wither flowers he stormed on back, picked up the cooler, scooped up as much ice as he could that hadn't already melted under the heat of the savannah district, and placed the pawpsicles back in the casket. As soon as the last one was placed, Judy yelled, "Now get!" And off they ran without looking back.

By this point Nick's mouth was hanging as wide open as possible. He couldn't believe it! That _bunny_ just scared off a bunch of 'vicious' predators several times her size. She might as well knock out a rhino!

After a few quiet moments of them both just staring off to where they ran, Nick broke the silence, "Well, there's something you don't see every day."

"It just... just burns me up to see mammals mistreating each other so badly. And I could finally actually _do_ something about it!"

"Well, I don't think I've ever been so gallantly saved. Much less by someone as small and cute as you." Nick said as he turned to her with a charming smile. The smile that he saw on her face for an instant was then vaporized. "Don't call me cute. Only bunnies can call each other that. It's really demeaning otherwise."

"Ah, right, forgot about that. My apologies." He said as he placed a hand over his heart. He hadn't actually forgotten of course, he was just hoping he could get away with it. And maaaayyybe wanted to see how easily that button was pushed.

While he was indeed grateful for the save, she was still a cop, still prey, and in particular _his_ ancestral prey. Which meant there was a high chance that she was afraid of him. To quickly test this theory he faked a large yawn to expose his fangs, and stretched his arms out to show his claws.

She had opened her mouth to say something polite in return at the time, but as expected, she stopped and nervously took a half step back. ' _Typical,_ 'he sourly though. ' _And if that is there, so is fear and prejudice._ '

"So what is the name of this brave knight that came to my rescue?" He sarcastically asked with only half the honest smile that once was there a moment ago.

"Officer Judy Hopps." She said after recomposing herself and getting rid of the ghost of a memory that flashed through her mind. ' _They're not all the same,'_ she reminded herself.

"Pleased to officially meet you. After all, we met unofficially months ago and you've been staring at me ever since." So he _had_ noticed. Luckily he continued without lingering on that embarrassing detail. "I would introduce myself but somehow you seem to already know my name. Along with theirs... How _is_ that?"

She gave a small chuckle. "Mr. Wilde I wasn't joking when I said I've had a _LOT_ of time on my paws. Paperwork and parking duty doesn't keep one very busy for about 9 months. In my spare time I've taken notes and learned about as many predators as I could. Mr. Rags and Scar I've seen a number of times around so that was easy enough. And… Well, after we first sorta met, I couldn't help but be curious about who you were."

Nick let out a simple _hmm_ to that, lost the fake smile and said, "Well thanks for the save Officer Carrots, but now I must bid you adieu." And sharply walked off with the cooler and mostly melted merchandise in tow.

Judy spluttered and stammered at the sudden cold shoulder she was receiving. _Carrots?!_ What just happened? She just saved that guy! And-

"It's Officer Hopps to you!" She yelled after him.

"Whatever," he lazily called back.' _Prey,_ 'Nick thought sickeningly as he walked away. ' _They're all the same_.' Afraid for no reason, judge without context, and she probably only helped him to further her own cause in some way or another.

' _Predators!_ 'Judy spat inside her own head as she stormed off back to her jokemobile. Frustration rolling off of her like the heat of the district.

* * *

' _Bunnies…_ 'Bogo thought with exasperation. Not that it was particularly a bad thing to turn in more than 300 parking tickets, but that was a lot of processing to take care of, no doubt a lot of complaints would come in, and a number of them were sure to challenge their citations in court. Bogo just didn't know what to do with that bunny anymore. He couldn't win without firing her for no good reason, not long term at least.

And when Hopps clocked out today, and he got a glance at her, he could tell she was in an even less cheerful mood than usual. He swore that every step she took caught the ground beneath her feet on fire. Maybe she did it just to spite him. They were having a passive aggressive war it seemed.

He rested his head on his desk, feeling a headache growing. ' _THANKS Hopps._ ' It wasn't only her fault to be fair; his desk was covered in paperwork, articles, and cases that he'd been looking through. The article on top that he was reading was about the supposed 'savagery' of predators in the years past and the continued need for shock collars. Perhaps even a stricter system. ' _As if that was needed_.' Bogo often did his best to reason with the mayor against such things. He wasn't stupid; he knew predators had a hard enough time in Zootopia already, but there was very little he could do apart from that. Not that he particularly wanted to do something.

But he _does_ need to do something about that bunny.

_KNOCK KNOCK._

Bogo sighed, and then remembered the time. After 5 o'clock not only was Hopps long gone, but so was anyone else that would genuinely bother him. Now he was curious, who was it? After sitting up straight again and refilling his lungs with air Bogo called for whoever it was to come in and in walked a mole wearing a white lab coat.

"Chief Bogo sir, I have the lab results from the last break-in." The small figure of the rodent said with a light French accent, as he walked in with a folder filled with papers.

"Ah thank you Mr. Moliere, what have you found out?"

Since the nearly elephant sized chair was still far too low for such a small animal even while standing, he tossed the folder onto Bogo's desk and climbed his way up. Once he was standing in front of him he continued.

"Some details at the crime scene have confirmed that the suspect is a red fox by the name of..." He paused, blinked a few times, then rapidly opened the file and dug through a few papers until he found the one he was looking for again. "Nicholas Wilde! Apologies for that memory lapse." Bogo just shook his head, waving it off once more as he has done many times in the past.

"A few fibers of his fur were found at the crime scene by the door, allowing us to identify him. But the problem is that the surveillance systems were under maintenance at the time and did not capture any footage of him entering or leaving the premise. Also, while there is no official alibi given yet for obvious reasons, a traffic camera saw him across the city less than a half an hour later than the reported time of the crime. I'll leave it up to the detectives on whether or not that's noteworthy."

Bogo nodded. This is why moles, lemmings and fellow rodents are often great as forensics teams. Since they're so small, they're ideal for seeing miniscule details like a stray hair at a crime scene or a footprint that doesn't match any of the employees. And because of this attention to detail, they often notice other seemingly insignificant details as well.

"So we have a possible suspect. I know of Mr. Wilde as he has made no effort to stay invisible to the ZPD, but we've also never had a reason to arrest him. Every time we've approached him he's either slinked away or proved that we had no grounds against him. Sounds like he may have finally slipped up."

"Good." The mole said as he started wringing his hands together. "Perhaps now we can finally catch that no good dirty stinkin rottin pelt of a-"

"That's quite enough Meryl." Bogo sternly said, cutting off the scheming looking rodent. He liked Meryl enough to be on first name basis with him on occasion, but he did often seem a tad... well, odd. Even for a rodent, his obsession with dirt and geology was a bit off putting. He had once gone on an entire tangent about what he was able to deduce from the dirt in between Bogo's hooves. Granted he was an expert in that field and the head of the forensics team so it _was_ a good thing, still a bit weird though.

But he didn't need any of those under his command going off on prejudicial tirades. There was enough of that junk in society already. So when any cases like that crossed his path, he stopped them with an iron hoof.

A couple moments passed during which Bogo stared the smaller mammal down, and said mammal looked anywhere but at Bogo's piercing eyes. "Uh, right. Sorry." He mumbled.

"Anything else?" Bogo tersely asked. Ready to end the now awkward atmosphere.

Mr. Moliere could tell he lost his chance at this also being a friendly visit and simply said "No Sir." and quickly took his leave, closing the door behind him.

Which unfortunately for Bogo triggered the memory of his argument with Hopps a few days back. She was one of the very few under his command who was able to stand up to him... Not that that is a good thing...

Bogo groaned at having that infuriating bunny back on his mind. He had hoped for a moment she'd be gone for a bit longer with the appearance of a friend, but that didn't happen. And now he had that slippery fox to-

Snapping up straighter than he's been in weeks, an idea started to develop in his mind. A wonderful… Awful... idea. And he smiled. And if anyone knew Bogo well, they'd know when he was smiling, 95% of the time it was NOT going to end well for somebody. Or in this case, two particular mammals that were a constant thorn in his side. He was gonna take out two bunnies with one kick if this went well.

Judy didn't even pay attention during the bullpen meetings anymore. She was honestly unsure why she didn't start doing this month's earlier. She was not being any less optimistic by not paying attention per se; Judy was simply confident in what was going to happen and therefore had no interest in it. Everyone was going to be rowdy: check. The greeting for Bogo: check. Him telling them to shut it: check.

While he called out the various teams of officers and their assignments, Judy didn't even look forward at Bogo. Instead she indifferently looked around the room with half lidded eyes, giving anyone who made eye contact with her a very bored look. A couple of them were thrown off balance by this. ' _Could she look any more like a fox right now?_ ' One of them thought. ' _I'm starting to think Judy was meant to be born a fox._ 'Another thought.

Even once the last remaining officers left, Judy still didn't spare Bogo a glance. If she had, she would've seen him grinning. A number of times he hadn't even given her the official assignment of parking duty and just assumed she'd know what to do. So as Judy was about to get off her chair and on her way, Bogo spoke up.

"One moment Hopps. I got something special for you today."

She finally made eye contact with him upon hearing that, but no amount of brightness shone out of them like usual. It made Bogo grin. He was winning, and his plan would only solidify that. Judy mentally intoned, ' _oh goody, I probably get to go to another district. Yaaayy…_ '

"You have a choice to make." ' _Between paperwork or parking duty no doubt…_ '

"You can either go on your way and continue giving out parking tickets..." ' _Or paperwork?_ '

"Or you can make a deal with me regarding a little... case I might have for you." _That_ got her attention. For the first time since he saw her today, her eyes were now fully open and some of that light returned to her features. He didn't mind though.

"A... a-a a case? Sir?" She couldn't believe it. No way. Had- had something finally changed? Was she finally getting a chance to prove herself?!

"Yes, your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to find and apprehend a suspect and bring him in for questioning." He said while grinning and holding up a pointed hoof. But Judy was too excited to notice the abnormality of that.

"Ok. Who am I bringing in?" She was becoming so excited that she was hopping up and down a little. Bogo's grin got even wider, but not because of that. If she wasn't even going to ask what the other end of the deal was, this was going to be even easier than he thought. But then her annoying cute little jumping stopped and she donned a thoughtful expression.

"Wait... why wouldn't I accept the case?" ' _Nuts._ '

"Because there is a catch Hopps. IF you chose to accept this deal, you'd agree that IF you fail to complete your task within 48 hours starting this morning, you will be reassigned to another precinct."

"Oh!" And just like that her positive energy plummeted. Judy should've figured. Of course there was a catch! Of _course_ the problem didn't just work itself out eventually. ' _This isn't so much of a deal as it is an ultimatum,'_ she realized. ' _But if this is the one chance I get to prove myself, than I'm taking it!_ '

"Ok. Deal."

"Splendid!" Bogo said with a grin that stretched from ear to ear while clasping his hands together. Reaching over to the podium he grabbed a manila folder and handed it to her. "Here is your case file. Have a good couple of days Hopps."

As she gingerly took the folder, she sent a suspicious look towards him. For the first time she started to notice the oddity of his behavior. He seemed awfully happy about _her_ finally getting a chance to prove herself. Granted she did just accept an ultimatum, which he must expect to go his way, but that thought lasted only for a second. She was too excited to let whatever the Chief was planning hinder her mood.

"Yes Sir." She saluted and ran out the door, ready to begin her first case and to prove him wrong.

Bogo smiled as the little irritating ball of grey fluff vanished from his view. No doubt this would be one of the last times he'd see her. ' _Have fun going down that road Hopps. No matter what, I win._ '

Once outside, she sat down inside the Jokemobile without a single thought of her disdain for it. She was far too excited about this challenge. If she succeeded, it would be the best way of proving her worth possible. He _wanted her_ to fail. And she was gonna shove that up his tail.

' _So who am I even going after_ ,' she curiously thought, realizing she still hadn't opened the case file. When she did, her ears, which had been erect even while she was inside the bullpen, finally drooped.

"Oh..." She quietly said upon seeing the top of the page. Her positive energy once more diminishing.

**Case File:**

**Nicholas P. Wilde**


	4. Runnin' With The Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Heeeyy look at that, things still don't make sense. (Physics... -_- ) In the last chapter I mentioned how it was long in my plans then was really short in the end. This chapter was the opposite. The chapter just kept on building itself, like self-discovery and ended up being my longest chapter at the time. And again huge amounts of thanks to my editor for working through this long chapter with me. It takes a lot of work and patience from him I'm sure.
> 
> And for the sake of memory, I posted this on New Year's. It was a good way to start the new year. And it's sad, unless it changed while working with my editor, there are no easter eggs in this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Zootopia, just this story and its original characters.

** Chapter 4: Runnin' With The Devil **

" _There are other organizations out there. And, in time, I'm sure they're going to spoon-feed you their own patented form of bullshit. Ignore the verbage and look at what they're doing. What they're asking you to do. What sort of world they'd have you build and how they're going to pay for it._ " -Deacon, Fallout 4

All mammals are creatures of habit and routine. It's just how everyone's life is or ends up being. The trick is to not have that routine be as boring and monotonous as Judy's has been, or as predictable as Mr. Nicholas Wilde's.

For the first time in a while Judy was feeling rather good with herself as her piles of information that she's collected about all the predators she's seen while doing parking duty and traffic control has once again come in handy. First with those hooligans that she scared off with a white lie and now with finding Mr. Wilde, who is coincidentally the reason she started compiling information.

But this is Zootopia, where anyone can be anything. Where prey are predators, and predators are treated like rugs to be walked on. Where anything can happen to anyone and henceforth, nothing makes sense or goes as it should.

As to be expected since Nick was a borderline criminal it made sense that he wouldn't always be in one place so as to avoid authorities and other mammals that could cause him grief. Judy only had to cover all of the places in Savannah Central that weren't too far from Happytown and all the places in Sahara Square that weren't too hot for the majority of the populus. Easy right?

Well that was the idea at least, but once she started looking, and not immediately finding him, the hours of fruitless searching soon started whizzing past her. The morning soon turned into a burning hot noon in the two districts, and as a mammal whose natural habitat is neither of those climates, the heat was causing her to feel rather irritable.

' _Show yourself you dumb fox…_ ' She thought while fuming in her Jokemobile as she was going down one of the last streets she could think of that he'd be on this time of day. Her gut plummeted when she was forced to accept the truth that he was not here either.

He was a conmammal after all. Maybe he was doing another one of his tricks.

"Oh!" Her ears skyrocketed as she realized where he probably was. If he wasn't selling the pawpsicles, he was probably making them! Though he is a bit behind schedule... Wasting no time she drove over to the ice cream parlor where he often got the jumbo pop. Not there. Ok so maybe on one of the roofs in Sahara Square? As she drove through there (again) she glumly realized she should've been looking up the first time. She was burning a lot of daylight here and had yet to achieve anything.

But still no red fox. Ok so maybe in the outskirts of Tundratown? After a short drive up and through the hilly area of Frosty Avenue, hello rockstar painted van.

Getting out of her car and looking over the hill into the clearing where they usually made the pawpsicles, she saw her foxes. Except they weren't in the process of pouring the liquid into footprints or waiting for them to freeze. In fact it looked like they stopped right in the middle of what they were doing to argue over something, by the way the smaller one was gesticulating.

"-saying it'd be a better option than what we've been doing for years!" Judy heard the low voice of the fennec fox yell as she laid down on the backside of the hill to eavesdrop. She learned a while ago his name was Finnick.

Nick just scoffed. "Going from using our wit to make a slightly dishonest living to become a full-fledged criminal. Hardly an upgrade in lifestyle, Fin."

"But we'd be doing it for the greater good! Fighting for an actual cause that could finally set the world right and make Zootopia great again."

Nick nodded patronizingly and put a paw to his chin. "Oh sure, yeah you're totally right. Zootopia was perfect back then, it was so much better for us. We should definitely help these bozos try to return it to something that never existed. Chase after a goal line that is always moving." He dismissed, "People who say they're fighting for the greater good are always a bunch of delusional idiots."

"Since when did you get so philosophical? Don't act like you're better than the rest of us." The significantly smaller fox growled, doing his best to stand up to the taller fox. Nick just grinned at the act which only infuriated the fennec fox even more.

"You're so cute when you're angry." Nick quietly said while grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh FU-" A sharp jolt of electricity cut him off and to his credit, Nick did frown at that. He enjoyed infuriating the little fox but he didn't want it to go that far.

"A word of advice Mr. Wilde, almost _every_ small mammal despises being called cute, so if you're trying to defuse a situation, don't call them that."

Their heads both turned in shock towards the voice and approaching grey bunny. It had gone so quiet that the only sound was the snow crunching under Judy's paws as she approached.

Nick's initial surprise and fear from seeing a member of the ZPD shifted into a calm and amused demeanor once he recognized her. "Heeyy it's Officer Carrots, the famous meter maid of Zootopia. What're you doing way out here so far away from where you're needed Carrots?"

"Doing what I'm _meant_ to be doing. Bringing in mammals like you for questioning." She said with her hands on her hips and scowling up at him.

"Oh is that right? So do you even know what you're bringing me in for?" Nick grinned, figuring she was still just a meter maid in the eyes of the rest of her department and had been tossed into the frying pan for whatever reason. He wasn't far from correct.

While the two were facing off, Finnick just slowly backed up from the two with his hands up, nervously eyeing the both of them. Why was Nick so comfortable around the fuzz? What did she know? Was he gonna be in trouble too?

"I..." She paused and her stern expression faltered. The case file _had_ been really unspecific for some reason. Only offering information on Nick and not so much on what he did, just that he was identified at the crime scene. So she took a somewhat educated guess and regained her professional composure. "Breaking, entering, and thievery from BnL, your fur was identified at the crime scene. Guess you weren't slick enough Nick."

His smug smile vanished. ' _BnL!? I didn't break into BnL... the hell?_ '

Getting back onto his feet quickly, he decided to throw her a curveball in order to get her off the topic and interest of arresting him. "And if I were to say that I didn't do it?"

"I'd still need to bring you in for questioning." She quickly replied.

He smiled. The trap was set. "A bunny cop like yourself just can't help but want to bring in the big bad scary fox, huh? Gotta prove to everyone that someone as small as you can bring in the scary predators am I right?"

She stuttered for a moment, thrown at the sudden direction change. "T-that is not at all the reason! I'm not... prejudicial like that and I'm certainly not afraid of you."

"Oh really?" He growled as he leaned in close to her, baring his teeth as he spoke, his amused and smug demeanor shifting into one far more predatory. Just like last time she noticeably cowered and her nose started to involuntarily twitch. The fact that his collar blinked yellow only discomforted her further. "Not afraid of the fact that I might go savage and try to _eat a dumb bunny like you?_ Even though I have this lovely collar on me to prevent such things. Not afraid of those ancient biological urges within me to attack you. You're not at all like _all_ the other prey?"

It was unlike Nick to go on tirades like this, but admittedly this bunny was truly quite irritating to him as she was a prime example of what was wrong with the prey society. His questions seemed to all be striking home too, by the look in the bunny cops eyes. She was afraid of him. It was so blatantly obvious in her twitching nose and deer in the headlights expression. Her wide amethyst eyes and grey fur decorated with the snow falling around them reminded him of his slight attraction to her. But that only made the sting of her unjustified fear all the more painful.

"Not afraid of a possibly savage fox like me, huh?" He asked again as he took a step towards her. Immediately her hand flew to the small capsule of fox-repellent that hung on her belt.

His eyes followed the motion to it and Judy suddenly realized what she just did, looking down as well. Looking back into his eyes, she saw much more than anger now. She saw the pain and despondency that she had noticed when they first met. He wasn't just angry, he was hurt. She was feeling rather hurt herself as well because of the disappointment she suddenly felt in herself. After all this time, was she really like all the rest...?

Judy always rolled her eyes at one of her grampas whenever he'd go on a tirade about foxes and their evilness. "Foxes are red because they were made by the devil!" He'd always yell out with his old trembling voice. She knew then and now that that was nonsense, but somehow, a similar idea about them seemed to have grown inside her mind.

She didn't want to believe she was afraid of foxes or predators in general like everybody else was. It wasn't all uncalled for though. When she was around nine a bully, who happened to be a fox, named Gideon Grey had clawed her face when she was simply standing up for her friends. And her parents as carrot farmers certainly held some heavy prejudice towards foxes, and that incident did not help with the fact. Even while growing up, Judy had tried to not let their views on the topic impact her own, but apparently it had.

"I guess I am a dumb bunny..." She quietly conceded while looking away. She couldn't possibly meet the emerald fire in his eyes right now.

Nick was slightly taken aback by her admission but quickly shook it off. "Which makes me a sly fox. Who is also a con-mammal. We both fulfill our stereotypes. Congratulations." He snarkily replied.

"Regardless of our failure to be different than the rest of society, I still need to bring you in." She said, looking at him with a slightly renewed strength. She still had a job to keep and a boss to prove herself to.

"I'll tell you what. Let's make a deal. You come with me for a bit, I show you around and cure you of your stereotype. Then afterwards I'll come in and answer questions about the crime I didn't commit, proving that I am not as much of a criminal as you may think." Nick grinned mischievously. He was feeling rather proud of that white lie. He'd drag her along only to sneak away at some point so he wouldn't have to come in. Then the annoying prejudicial cute little bunny would get whatever she'd deserve from failing to bring him in.

Judy bristled at the dumb bunny comment, but was otherwise speechless for a few moments. During those moments the frigid temperature of Tundratown made itself known to her. Despite their bodily warmth, a fair amount of snow had now stuck to both of their coats of fur. Nick stared emotionlessly at Judy, waiting uncertainly for what she'd do. And Judy stared at the ground, rubbing her left arm self-consciously; unsure of what to do or what to think.

Finnick had long since snuck away from the bunny cop and his partner in crime. He was confident enough that Nick would hustle his way out of the predicament.

"Alright..." she spoke so softly Nick had to perk up his ears to hear clearly. "I'll come with you. But I am on a time limit so we can't be too long."

Nick smiled devilishly. ' _A time limit? Great. That'll make my job even easier._ '

* * *

"And _why_ are we here?" She asked again as they approached the DMV. The dumb fox had refused to tell her the reason he had wanted them to come here until now.

"A friend of mine works here and it doubles as a great place to help break you out of your dumb bunny naivety." He replied as they stopped in front of the doors of the building, getting out of the way of the grumbling mammals that were exiting. Judy idly wondered what they were so frustrated about.

"I'm hardly naive about Zootopia you dumb fox. Lived here for 9 months." She shot back.

"And yet you _still_ believe that 'anyone can be anything.'"

"Not to as full of an extent as I once did but yes, yes I do."

"Mmhmm, exactly." He said as they walked in through the front doors. "Which is why I'd like you to meet my good friend who works here. Won't take long, he's the fastest one in here."

"Well good cause if you insist on-" Judy halted in her tracks when she noticed the excruciatingly long lines. Looking to the front she saw why and her jaw just about hit the floor.

"They're all _sloths?!"_

"Yup! As you can see Zootopia has both a sense of judgment _and_ a sense of humor, that's why these mammals were chosen. They can handle both the stress and the responsibility that comes with a job like this." Nick proudly stated, speaking like a tourist guide.

"And you said this was going to be quick." Judy intoned.

"What? Why wouldn't it be? I thought anyone in Zootopia can be anything. Are these guys not a part of that saying?" He said while leaning down closer to her and smiling disingenuously.

Judy glared at him for that and didn't give him the satisfaction of a response, simply following him up to the middle counter. He could still be wrong; maybe this friend of his was actually fast and efficient at his job.

"Flash flash hundred yard dash. Buddy it is great to see you, how are ya doin?" Nick said, wildly gesticulating with his hands. ' _Flash? What an odd name for a sloth_. _Maybe he really is fast_.' Judy smiled to greet the sloth...

Flash's eyes widened slightly... He smiled... He opened his mouth... Judy's smile twitched...

"Good... To... See you... Too... Bud... What..."

"Just hang in there carrots." Nick whispered to Judy, who just sent him an unamused glare.

"Brings you… Here?" Flash finished.

"Well I was actually just bringing my friend here along to say hi to you and maybe ask a question or two."

' _A question or two? What kind of question could he...?_ '

Judy's eyes widened as an epiphany struck her. Though not at all the one Nick was hoping she'd have. He was going to try to get a rise out of her! He wasn't interested in showing her the truth, he was just trying to piss in her morning carrot juice. Probably stall for time or something, since she let slip that she was on a time limit... blasted fox! Two could play at this game. She'd play along for a little bit, then she'd leave his red furry tail in the dust. What she didn't figure out however, was that he was already planning on doing that exact same thing.

As Flash slowly opened his mouth to respond, Nick looked over to her and Judy smiled the largest smile she could muster without looking at him. She did have some experience with sloths after all. She could be patient with their extremely slow processing speeds.

"Sure... But... You... Should... Know... That... I… Am..." Nick stole another glance at his bunny companion to see her frustration, but was surprised to see her still smiling broadly, waiting patiently for him to finish. No rapid foot thumping, no signs of impatience in her body language. It made his own smug smile fade and his ears slightly fold back showing early signs of irritation. Signs that Judy did not fail to detect from her peripheral vision.

"On... Break..." Flash finished.

Catching onto the fact that this wasn't working very well, Nick decided to change his plans a slight amount and thought of a more sensitive topic to broach some questions on. "No worries, it's not business related. I was just wondering if you could enlighten Officer Carrots here on which of the two classes of mammals are harder to deal with while working here?"

Judy's smile vanished, her long ears fell on her back, and Nick's smile returned. Flash's… Very... Slowly... Disappeared as well. It didn't morph into a frown, but his features were yelling "unamused." One thing Flash's old friend Nick from the track team never caught on to was his hidden intellect. While of course his thoughts did not travel quickly, it was becoming obvious to him what Nick was trying to do here.

He and that bunny next to him were at war with each other. It was clear with the looks they were sending one another and the question Nick just asked. Nick knew the answer, Nick knew Flash knew the answer, and Flash knew that. So he was just asking to be a pain in everyone's tail, primarily the bunnies.

As Flash was slowly making all these connections, he continued to stare unblinking and unamused at Nick. Moments passed... A lot of moments passed... Minutes dragged on. Both Nick and Judy's eyes were darting to and fro nervously at the sloth's blank stare and the uncomfortable silence in the building.

Finally after who knows how much time, Flash opened his mouth to speak and both of them let out a small sigh. Which then caused Flash to close his mouth again as another train of thought started moving. He looked slowly between both of them, and then stopped in between, looking off into the distance with the same expression he wore ages ago.

Nick and Judy both inclined their heads curiously towards Flash, silently urging him to say whatever it was he was going to. But he just sat there staring.

' _Those... Two... Sure seem... Like... Two... Peas... In a... Pod,'_ Flash thought

For a few more minutes Flash thought of a response. Finally he opened his mouth to speak again and looked at them both and gave a response Nick did not see coming.

"Neither... Nick... Both... Prey... And... Preds... Are equally... Difficult... Here. The... Problem... Is Not... So... Black... And white... For it... To... Only... Be... One sides... Fault."

Nick tried to open his mouth to quip back but nothing came to mind for once. The idea that Flash just proposed held much more depth than Nick thought possible of his slow old friend. He looked to Judy to see her reaction.

Not only had she never looked impatient or irritated this whole time, she looked just as thoughtful as he felt at the moment. That wasn't ok. They were not on the same level in _any_ way. She didn't understand and neither did Flash!

After throwing up a fake smile and saying goodbye to his old friend, Nick stormed off without saying anything to Judy or even looking at her. He didn't want that bunny around him anymore. He didn't want the ugly truth thrown in his face. He wanted this stupid collar off of his neck and he wanted this _CURSED BUNNY THAT JUST APPEARED BY HIS SIDE AGAIN GONE!_

"So where to now ol' wise veteran Zootopian tour guide?" Judy asked, looking up at him smugly, noticing his ruffled ears and frazzled tail. He clearly wasn't happy with the turnout of all that, meaning she won. ' _Dumb fox,_ 'she snidely thought. Then the light on his collar blinked yellow making her guard go up a little, but she was careful to not let him notice that.

' _Freakin infuriating bunny._ ' His plan was effectively failing so far, but he wasn't out of ideas yet. A grin reformed as he realized what his next move would be.

"There's a certain peaceful place nearby downtown I want us to go to. We'll see if a cute lil' country bunny like yourself can handle it." He said as they sat down in the tiny vehicle.

"Don't call me cute, just tell me where to go." She growled.

* * *

Judy slowly turned her head to the right, giving the smug fox the flattest stare she could manage.

"Yeeeaahhh I don't think so Mr. Wilde. There is nothing in there that could be of interest to me, and we are simply wasting time now."

"Wha-why Carrots, are you telling me that you in fact know everything there is to know about Zootopia?" He said looking at her with a 'shocked' expression that was painfully fake, going so far as to hold a hand over his 'aching' heart.

"Of course n-"

"Are you saying you've been inside before?" He inquired.

"Well no but-"

"So you're saying you're a dumb bunny who knows next to nothing about how the predators of Zootopia are really treated." Nick said with a scornful stare, looking her directly in the eyes with his arms crossed, challenging her to prove him wrong.

"I am _perfectly_ aware of-"

"Is this filthy pelt of a mammal bothering you ma'am?" A deep voice suddenly boomed behind Judy. She didn't know who or what spoke but with his arms still crossed, Nick looked up while flattening his ears and widening his eyes.

Turning around and looking up, she saw a rhino wearing a Van Hoofen t-shirt, with a spiked leather jacket on top of it, complete with shredded jeans and over a dozen rings and piercings on his face; some were even on his horn.

Regaining her breath from the shock of his sudden appearance she spoke up with as much authority as she could. "No, that's perfectly alright Sir. My informant and I were just having a minor disagreement."

Stepping past Judy the rhino approached Nick and jabbed at him with a sharp looking hoof. "Well you make sure you call out for help if this shifty criminal of a-"

"That _won't_ be necessary Sir." Judy said stepping in front of Nick and halting an animal well over ten times her size. "Please do not further interfere with ZPD business and be on your way." The rhino had just about stepped on the little bunny and took a couple steps back at the sudden appearance of her in front of his path. He glared at the fox who was now smiling smugly at him. He _hated_ foxes...

"Good day sir." Judy curtly said then grabbed a hold of Nick's tie and dragged him through the doors into Oasis Springs Resort.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Nick smacked Judy's hand to get her to let go of his tie. "Make up your mind on who's side you're on Carrots."

"A simple thank you would suffice Wilde. And I HAVE made up my mind. I'm on the _right_ side. The side that fights for-

"Lemme stop you right there Carrots. You work for the ZPD, and they currently have about as much credence as I do. Working for them does _not_ automatically put you on the side of what is _righteous_ and _good_ in this city _._ They're no better version of a greater good than-"

Realizing what he was about to say, he stopped himself and snapped his jaw shut. He couldn't tell her that he was actually a part of one of the activist groups, especially if they turned out to be far more dangerous than they seemed to be. That could also give her an actual reason to arrest him.

"Than what?" She pressed with her brows furrowed and her arms crossed.

Instead of answering the question he said, "Come on," and started walking through the dimly lit room. Before they even stopped in front of the yack, he acknowledged them after parting his thick hair.

"Whoa I'm gonna stop you right there, I hate to break it to you there lil bunny, but, y'know, your boyfriend here ain't gonna be able to go where you're going."

"What?! No no, he's not, no you got the wrong idea, I mean, I'm not-"

"We're not like that Yax." Nick calmly said with his hands folded behind his back. Judy looked over to him to see a very stone faced fox. At first she figured it was because of the accusation that they were somehow for... some reason... romantically involved. Interspecies relationships weren't illegal or anything like that, at least between preys. But prey and predator relationships were non-existent. If they have ever occurred, no one knew about them. So a fox and a bunny was just... absurd.

But a particular detail about what Yax the yack said came to the forefront of her mind when she searched for a reason why Nick would look so annoyed. 'They couldn't go together.' Deciding to mess with the fox a bit she spoke up with a sickly sweet tone, "But why's that? My boyfriend promised me we could be naked together in peace here at this resort."

The response was instantaneous. Nick's calm, collected and unamused posture rapidly shifted into one of panic.

"W-what!? Carrots what are you doing?" Nick hissed.

"Why honey, I'm just trying to get us in so we can enjoy our honeymoon." Judy said while looking up at him and rapidly batting her eyelashes. She even jutted her hip out, angled her head and long ears to smile at him. Nick's jaw simply fell open at that for multiple reasons.

"Yeah well sorry lil' bunny. He's gonna have to go into the predator designated areas where he belongs."

Forgetting about her game with Nick, she looked up in shock at Yax. "There are different areas even here? At a resort advertised for its peaceful atmosphere and setting!?"

"Uh… yeah? But if that's not ok with you two love birds, I'm gonna have to ask ya to leave. Actually, y'know, I think I'll ask that anyway. Your guy's presence is messing with my zen thing and I need to keep it up for the approaching customers."

Nick and Judy simultaneously looked behind them to see these 'approaching customers'. Seeing no one they looked back with nearly identically unamused expressions at Yax who was now back into his meditative stance and humming.

"Uh sir?" Judy inquired, only to be drowned out by Yax's _HUUMMM._

"Yax?" Judy tried a little louder. _HUUMMMMM!_

The bunny's foot started rapidly thumping the ground in irritation. _REALLY?_ Even here? So the predators of Zootopia just _really_ couldn't ever catch a break huh? Knowing there was nothing more to be gained her Judy stomped her way out of the establishment with Nick sending one last disdainful look towards Yax, the eternally high yack.

Once outside Judy calmed down considerably, but when she stopped walking her foot started rapidly thumping against the ground again. Nick just stood there and waited for her to explode. In that moment a herd of wildebeests were about to cross the street nearby him and caught Nick's eye. His ears perked up at the idea of slipping away into them and leaving this bunny behind.

It's what he's been after all day. He could see his chance, his salvation from this annoying and blindly optimistic bunny. No matter how much he thought he wanted to however, he couldn't kick his legs into gear. But why? Because it was starting to be apparent that she actually cared about predators? Because maybe she did understand?

They were crossing the street now, he'd have to leave _RIGHT NOW..._

… Yet his legs still weren't moving.

Unaware of his internal conflict, Judy took a deep breath and calmed herself down and stopped her thumping. "I see what you mean now." She said while looking off into the distance. "Even at a nice resort like that, Zootopian society is still taught to fear you guys, so predators probably never even go there huh?"

As he started walking down the street Nick said, "Not really no. I went once to try it out, 'get a breath of fresh air' I thought. Didn't go well at all." Without questioning where he was going, Judy fell into step next to him.

"And... what happened?" She softly inquired, not wanting to pry on what could be a sensitive topic.

"Just the usual Carrots. Shoved around, feared, avoided, ridiculed, teased. Some even went as far as to insult my malehood. That one came as a surprise to be honest." Judy did her best to not laugh or smile at that but a small grin _might_ have escaped. Given Nick's slightly lighter tone while telling her that, she wasn't entirely sure if that was ok or not.

For a couple minutes, they simply walked down the busy street in silence. It was the middle of rush hour now so she'd usually be giving out parking tickets by the pawful or directing traffic. The sun was starting to set and was bathing the street in a warm orange glow. Headlights of cars and streetlights were starting to turn on to counter the fading light. Judy would've been comfortable with this walk, even with Nick next to her, if it weren't for all the looks she started to notice they were receiving.

Whether it was the moose in business suits, antelope couples holding hands, herds of wildebeests, sheep, that giraffe, no matter who or what, they were glaring at both Nick and Judy. It didn't matter that they weren't holding hands or didn't, to Judy at least, seem like a couple at all, no one was ok with even the idea of the pair.

As Judy was busy looking around at everyone's judgmental eyes, she temporarily forgot to keep an eye on what was in front of her, which happened to be an elephant carrying several bags of groceries. A second before she was about to be ran over, her sixth sense warned her of the incoming mountain, but before she even coiled the springs in her legs to jump out of the way she felt two paws under her arms pull her back.

Judy let out a 'meep' in surprise from almost being stepped on and being pulled back so suddenly. Her head and back then felt something quite warm and soft. She then noticed the dark red furred paws that were still wrapped around her chest; those could only belong to one mammal. It was hard to believe that something so fluffy could belong to someone so coarse, and this was with a shirt on. She might not have gotten killed, but Nick saved her nonetheless from being trampled.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Nick yelled out. "Watch where you're going you big lumbering oaf!" Not caring about the yellow warning light in his collar.

"Shut up fox, no one cares about you!" The female elephant yelled back. Maybe she didn't even notice that she almost stepped on a bunny and instead only saw the red fox.

Then before either of the pair could respond, with Judy still in his arms, Nick felt a fast and strong weight push against his back, nearly toppling him and almost making him fall on top of the bunny he just saved. Thankfully Judy caught herself and held Nick in place.

Looking past him she saw a horse galloping away. "Hey watch it!" Judy yelled out.

"Stick with your own species you horny rabbit!" The male horse yelled back.

She was about to open a can of kickass but a warm red paw on her shoulder and the soft command of "Don't" held her in her tracks. For a few more moments, Judy stood there glaring in the direction that the horse went. Thankfully no more mammals coincidentally ran into them, instead moving around them like the pair was a boulder in a river. Just them versus a whole torrent of animals.

"Come on Carrots, I got one more thing to show you." Nick softly said into one of her ears.

Judy let out a chuckle despite what just happened. Looking up at him she asked in good humor, "Really? Yeah sure, just let me cancel all my plans for tonight."

"Oh yeah?" Nick said, starting to walk forward again. "Got a hot date with a handsome buck at a fancy restaurant on the calendar?" He teased while sending a wink. For some reason he didn't want to see how she responded to that.

"Ha!" She laughed sardonically while she caught up to him. "Me? A date? Yeah sure, when predators lose their collars." Despite the comparison, Nick smiled a little. He was a bit curious why she sounded so hopeless in that regard though. She usually sounded much stronger and optimistic.

"Why the dark humor Carrots? I thought it'd be rather easy for a bunny like you to get all sorts of dates." Judy blinked at the 'bunny like you' comment, not knowing quite what he meant.

"Well, y'know, growing up with my dream to become a big city cop didn't leave a lot of time or interest for... Males. And even now I'm just striving for the chance to become a real cop like the others. So dates aren't really a priority."

At the mention of becoming a 'real cop like the others', Nick's features darkened. "Let's head back to your Jokemobile. I need to show you that last thing."

Judy was slightly taken aback by the sudden change in the fox's attitude, but didn't argue and led them back the way they came.

It was nearing the end of rush hours and traffic in Savannah Central was still intense, but due to Nick's vivid knowledge of back streets and alleyways that the three-wheeled Jokemobile could easily fit through, they were on the other side of town in no time.

Judy was mostly on auto-pilot while Nick lead them through town and she quickly lost her sense of direction. But once they popped out of an alley and turned onto the street, Judy's eyes widened as she read the signs that were warning her of the path she was taking.

Happytown.

"Uh... Nick? You know the ZPD isn't supposed to go to Happytown right?" She asked nervously.

"Exactly." He intoned. "Left here, turn around and park."

After doing what he said and turning off the little car, she cautiously looked over at him. Judy had been to Happytown a couple of times while off duty out of curiosity, and did not enjoy her time there. They were now sitting on the border of it on a small street, looking out at the visible line between the areas.

On one side the streets were well maintained, clean, the buildings looked modern and well kept, with sidewalks bustling with activity. Less than a block away, suddenly the city turned to trash. The buildings dilapidated, paint fading and peeling off, rust and grime on every metallic surface, trash bags and overfilled dumpsters littering the street. A couple of predators were walking around in tattered clothing, and the occasional newspaper was floating on a gust of wind.

The stark difference had never been so clear to Judy. It was quite a sight sitting on the border like this. She was lost in her own thought when Nick spoke up. "Now look at what you strive to become." He said while looking forward with a dull expression.

Following his line of sight, she saw a ZPD vehicle parked in an alley, facing the street. She was about to ask what she was supposed to be looking at, when she noticed the cops within it. They weren't looking out at the street in the slightest and it was in the middle of rush hour! This is the busiest time to watch for speeders and all sorts of things that could go wrong.

Instead they were talking to each other, constantly looking at the area in between them. They were playing cards. And eating donuts too...

"Do you get it yet Officer?" Nick said bitterly. "With all the fear, the prejudice, the segregation, the crimes that I didn't commit, even the occasional predator gone crazy for unknown reasons, the ZPD doesn't care about us... They're only there to make our lives worse with speeding tickets and collar enforcement. And as you've said, you guys aren't even allowed to enter Happytown. But no doubt most of your fellow officers don't even have the guts to enter such a _scary_ place anyways."

"And this is not just this unit Carrots. The reason I had us come here is because all of the patrols are ludicrously predictable. If they were _looking_ for crime they'd mix up their path a little more often. Now, I also bet that it isn't entirely their fault, which means your beloved Chief is no doubt not the best of help either." Judy gave a weak smile to that, he had no idea.

"Ok I get it, the ZPD isn't helping. But by working for them I can at least help in the fight to make this city a better place."

"You're fighting an invisible and unstoppable force rabbit. You may as well be fighting Mother Nature. Here is the best example of your precious ideology: 'anyone can be anything.'" Nick paused here, looking over at her with a neutral look. She looked back at him, then he gestured towards the few predators walking down the street. "Here, and anywhere in the city, we can only be what we are. This is the way of the world now Carrots."

"But it isn't supposed to be and you know it!" She said, acting a bit more like her tenacious self, finding strength in her words. "It makes no sense that the predators are prey and a small bunny like me would end up saving a fox like yourself from your own kind. What would you have me do instead, huh? Lay down, curl up into a ball and cry about the city's problems?"

"There is an undeniable comfort with complacency Carrots. Similar to ignorance is bliss." Nick softly said while looking off into the distance. "If you never try, you never fail."

"Ugggghh! You sound like my parents when I was a kit! What would you know about trying anyways?! The world wanted you to become a criminal so you said, 'oh ok, guess I'll go ahead and do that!'"

Nick wanted to retaliate to that jab, but found he couldn't. He knew she was right about him becoming a criminal. But what she didn't know was that he _did_ try, and every time it ended up badly. He tried to become a junior ranger scout and was muzzled and beaten by prey. He tried to fight for predators rights and only to realize that it was no use and they were ultimately no better than what they were fighting against. But he couldn't tell her that... If she knew… that'd only prove her right, and maybe something worse would happen. But if he did tell her it'd prove _him_ right, and where'd that get them? No where he wanted to be, Nick decided.

Judy could tell that hit a soft spot and the argument was subsequently over. She felt a tinge of guilt for Nick's forlorn and thoughtful expression. This fox was proving to be far more of a complex character than she'd been giving him credit for. Maybe he had tried and she just assumed the worst.

"You're right Nick." She softly said the fire in her voice gone. "The city is rotten, and its famous ideology no longer applies. But out of the two evils, I choose fighting to make the world around you a better place instead of just accepting it as it is. Wouldn't you?"

Nick made for no response and just turned his head to look further away from her. She scanned his face for any kind of reaction. When he slowly got out of the car and started walking down the street, she didn't push for one as she hurried to fall into step next to him.

In contrast to when they were walking down a street in Savannah Central, they only received a few curious looks as they wandered down a street in Happytown. Judy was just wondering how long they were going to walk when Nick suddenly halted in his tracks.

Instead of asking, she again just followed his eyesight to see a rather well designed and colorful poster on the glass wall of a quaint little cafe.

On the center of it, it showed a red fox wearing a grey sweater with the hood on pointing at the viewer. Above his head it said: "The Surge needs YOU." Below was the image of some buildings silhouetted by the red and black background with white text over them saying: "Let's make Zootopia great again! If you wish to join, all you have to do is to make it clear, and we'll find you."

"See?" Judy said with a small smile. "They have the right idea. Fight for what you guys deserve."

Nick merely kept looking at the poster version of The Hood that he felt was staring through him with its red eyes. He wasn't so sure who had the right idea anymore...


	5. Bad to the Bone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I think this might be my favorite chapter that I've written so far. And boy is it full of easter eggs and references. See how many you can get! My awesome editor got every single one! Did I mention he's awesome?
> 
> But yeah this chapter turned out to be quite interesting. I had planned it to be more of a comic relief type than anything (not filler though) but I'm horrible at humor so despite my best effort, it turned out different than I had planned. But I still love it, as always! XD And as a side note, I hope ya'll are recognizing these song titles!
> 
> Disclaimer: Still don't own Zootopia, just this story and the lovely (or not so) OC's that I've created.
> 
> And I have decided I definitely do need an editor of some kind at this point into my story. Or a beta-reader or something. So if you're a fellow writer and are interested, please do send me a PM. And do ya'll recognize these song titles? I sure hope you do.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Zootopia, just this story and the lovely (or not so) OC's. Do I always need to do these things...? *does 'em just in case*

** Chapter 5: Bad to the Bone **

" _I have some rather... crucial information for people like you._

" _He could be right..."_

" _No… no that's impossible, the ZPD would've caught on."_

" _He's a leak in somebody's system. He could just be a spy."_

" _Duck! ._.. _We're under attack!"_

" _It's gone!"_

" _Where the hell did they come from?!"_

" _I'm sorry..."_

" _...doomed us all."_

" _Joooohn!"_

" _You should be grateful to this family..."_

" _You're a hero John. Never forget that..."_

" _John..."_

"John?" The bartender tried once more. Finally he succeeded in drawing the middle aged bucks attention away from the clearly _very_ fascinating wood grain of the bar in front of him. Said buck was dressed in his signature brown trench coat and white undershirt, complete with a poorly tied tie around his neck. John looked up at him with that thousand yard stare, which was something the bartender had grown quite accustomed to over the years this guy had been coming here. And then that vacant expression faded into one of a dry grin and he spoke.

"Aren't you gonna ask how I am?" John inquired. He knew what the bartender was gonna say in return. But their usual verbal spar was too much fun to pass up on. Since he'd arrived tonight, he had barely bothered to even say a word to his old friend, too focused on his drinking.

"You know I don't give a shit." The honey badger replied with a twisted grin, playing off of his own animals' stereotype like he always did. He actually did care about his pal and they both knew it, but it was always in good fun to bring that up.

"Of course not. It's in your biology..." Of course only _after_ John said those words did he realize what meaning could be taken from that. With how everyone was these days... irrational fear of predators... shock collars on ever predators neck... incredibly sensitive about all topics around species, it would be best not to make any kind of comments regarding 'biology.' All because of the fear of predators 'aggressive primal instincts' coming to the surface. That's all that was talked about back when the shock collars were first introduced. And now the original reason for the fear has been forgotten by most, everyone has been conditioned at this point.

John was about to speak up and amend his faux pas, when the bartender waved him off. Not taking any offense from it, as usual. He knew John meant no offense and was only jesting. But for the first time today, he was reminded of the collar around his neck. He didn't like to think about it often, and he encouraged others to do the same. When their collar wasn't on their mind, everyone seemed to be in a much better mood.

"So you been drinking to forget or to drown your sorrows tonight?" Ridding his mind of the ominous thoughts that were haunting him, the buck looked up at his friend with a much lighter expression, a grin spreading on his lips. The one that the bartender actually almost gave a shit about seeing. "How about all the above Hun?"

Hun not being his real name of course, but the nickname John had given him when they first met. It was called for as he couldn't resist making a joke about John's name when they first met. So what started as a heated teasing match became a friendly routine and the nickname just stuck. If he had a real name (which he was sure he did), John didn't know it.

"Alright so what else can I get you then Mr. John Doe?"

John _Herderson_ rolled his eyes at the overused joke. "Alright you've reached your limit for that joke for tonight." Hun was really the only one John was ok with making that joke but it still annoyed him. Couldn't his parents have been a _little_ more creative? Or did they WANT him to be made fun of his whole life? High school was the absolute worst for him, teenagers really could be merciless.

"Oh yeah? Just one? Should I set a limit on how much you get to drink?"

"Want your paycheck to be significantly smaller than usual?"

"Sorry-not-sorry to burst your bubble, but Bambi's drinking habit doesn't affect my paycheck." ' _Again with the deer jokes._ ' John softly laughed and looked away. He had him there; Hun was after all the owner of this bar. Or was it a tavern? Even while sober, John never really knew the obscure line between them. What he did know however, was the stark difference between this place and nearly every other one that existed in Zootopia.

At 'The True Happytown' predators and prey were equally welcomed, and if you didn't get along, you were kicked out by either a bouncer or the entirety of the bar. While predators were certainly the most popular visitors, quite a number of non-speciest prey began to frequent it once they heard that the patrons held no prejudice against them, as long as they did the same. Eventually the bar grew popular enough to become colloquially known as the one true neutral ground in Zootopia, which was of course great for business. When it was even called that on a ZNN broadcast, Hun finally gave up on his clever and original title and renamed it 'The Neutral Ground.' He hasn't regretted that decision since.

It was truly a breath of fresh air for most predators. Here they're able to interact with prey and not see prejudice and hostility in their eyes. Lions, tigers, bears (oh my), no matter the species all were welcome in the growing community. Seeing a tiger talking to an elephant, or a bear conversing with a goat was not at all uncommon here. As such, many friendships and business partners have been made without the cloud of fear and judgement over their minds.

All of Hun's employees loved seeing the peace between classes, and he himself did feel rather proud of it. This place was his pride and joy. The badger just hoped that certain seedy characters, like that Hood fellow, who Hun's employees have spotted here a couple times, wouldn't try to disrupt it.

Hun idly glanced up at the TV above the bar at the thought of all the chaos that's been springing up lately. Currently it was showing a protest for predator rights in downtown that was getting enough mammals attention that even the ZNN decided to cover it, and Hun grimaced at the thought. That didn't usually bode well for predators considering what happened last time a protest gained enough fuel.

Those protesters were a bunch of walking hypocrites though; they promote peace and mammalian rights but simultaneously spit on those ideas. If The Hood and all of those who have started following him lately really were fighting for the same thing that this bar stood for, then he wouldn't disrupt the peace where it actually managed to spawn. Hun could always tell when one of the more avid supporters came in, but couldn't do anything about it without sounding like a hypocrite himself. Whether they started preaching about how wrong this place was or were passive aggressive, he could tell, and usually he'd get them kicked right back out if they were boisterous enough about it. He liked his peaceful environment and he wanted it to stay that way.

Peace being relative of course. 'The Neutral Ground' was still a very popular bar, and most mammals these days have an abundance of tension, stress, or anger under their fur. Fights and brawls did occasionally break out as per the norm, with the predator combatants doing their best to ignore the occasional shock. On the more popular nights Hun would hire a couple bouncers to keep it under some semblance of control, but he'd give them specific instructions to only interfere if it seemed necessary. His ideal being that in order to promote peace like this, sometimes you oughta let people vent some of their frustrations. Especially with the shock collars reminding them of its presence whenever a little fun started.

"So what else it gonna be tonight John?" He asked again, bringing both of them back into the present world.

"Let's mix it up a little, extra dry vodka martini." John said while still looking off into the distance.

"Shaken or stirred?"

"Does it look like I give a damn?" Hun just chuckled softly and got to work behind the counter.

John had already reached his maximum for a night but the trip down memory lane has caused an influx of unpleasant thoughts. Or rather, more so than usual, so larger quantities of alcohol were deemed necessary. And the memories of his last mission were dusting off some old skills he hadn't used since then. Suddenly he was thinking like a soldier again and he wasn't really liking that mindset. But at the same time he _was_ because he felt powerful, even if he really shouldn't be thinking like that anymore and... ' _I need more to drink...'_

Because after all, he shouldn't have been able to tell that that pig across the bar from him could handle himself quite well in a fight. He was not sure he liked being able to tell that that vixen over in the corner booth was clearly in league with Mr. Sandman, the primary crime lord of Sahara Square. He shouldn't have been able to tell that that wolf over in booth 3 had a concealed firearm and was constantly fighting some trigger happy urge. He was also particularly discomforted by the fact that the tiger sitting across from that wolf had also been sharpening his claws lately... he shouldn't… wait why would he be doing that? That's an old practice most felines don't do anymore, especially since the collars came around.

Unless...

"What're you thinking about?"

Hun's voice startled John out of his analyzation. He looked over at the badger with wide startled eyes and ears perked high, the classic deer in the headlights look. Then he noticed the martini he had ordered some time ago was waiting for him.

' _But... wait_... _what was I just thinking about? I had noticed... There was something...'_ John squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows trying to remember what he was just thinking. Taking John's silence as a 'I don't want to talk right now,' Hun began walking away. As soon as he did so, John remembered that Hun had asked him something.

"Uh... sorry, what was that?"

Turning around with a tired chuckle, he responded with as much patience as he could muster. "I said... what're you thinking about?"

"Oh, uh..." He actually didn't remember.' _It was probably something about…_ ' "Uh, just... my last mission, y'know. The usual."

Hun's jovial expression fell, replaced by a look of concern for his friend. Seeing the scars of his service reopen over and over again pained him, but there was little he could do about it.

"You did all you could John. You gotta stop beating yourself up over that. It's the weight all veterans carry."

' _Yeah... not quite._ 'John sourly thought.

Not wanting to go through the same conversation they've had a dozen times, and that he's had with dozens of others, John just shook his head and sipped at his martini. Hun would never understand. No one ever would. That may or may not have something to do with the fact that he hasn't told anyone the full story about what happened. The guilt ate him up too much to even admit it aloud to himself. The medals he 'earned' did little to help with that. They may even make it worse as all the medals were hollow to him, reminders of his failure and what he didn't deserve.

' _Heroism…_ ' John internally spat. ' _Sure... if that's what you wanna call the biggest failure of a soldier.'_ Seeing John's anger, something he always tucked deep under his fur, was coming to the surface, no doubt because of the alcohol, Hun decided to give him some space and went back to work.

' _Soldier! That's right!'_ He had just noticed those two predators over in booth 3 that seemed a bit suspicious. Though that could easily be because of the alcohol. Speaking of...

In a few large gulps, John downed the remainder of his drink. ' _I might regret that later...'_

' _Back to business._ ' John sent a lingering glance over at the two predators who now had a drink each and a couple side dishes. Nothing out of the ordinary. It probably really was the alcohol... but his curiosity was getting the best of him so with a resolute sigh, John began focusing on filtering all the sounds and conversations out to eavesdrop on theirs. He wasn't a bunny by any means but he was deer, and his hearing was still well above average.

"...freaks me out sometimes. Those blood red eyes of his, shining under the hood. They aren't natural, I swear."

"Well it makes sense don't you think? Some weasels like Duke have red eyes. It's only natural that a fox as slimy as him would have rather disconcerting colored eyes."

' _Oh good. Speciests. Who are the true slimy ones?'_

One of them chuckled. "Dude, don't let The Hood hear you say things like that. He'll rip your tail off and shove it down your throat then turn you inside out for good measure."

"Bah, I ain't afraid of him."

"You should be."

"Why? What's he got over me in a fight?"

"Intelligence."

"Oh rut you man."

"No, really. Have you seen the kinds of things he's been doing with those pieces of junk? The things he's been figuring out with those scraps of intel we've been getting him? I swear he's a technological genius."

"Speaking of that crap, I'm getting really bored of those missions. I much prefer the other ones. The ones where we get to give those pretentious high and mighty snobs a taste of their own medicine. When we get to make them feel how they make US feel."

' _So basically terrorism? Don't tell me those fools have come back…_ '

The other one gave a short laugh. "I'll drink to that." _Clink_. A pause. "Speaking of, did I tell you about the time I scared the living scat out of a couple of zebras? It earned me a shock in the neck but _oh_ boy was it worth it." They both laughed and John could hear another _clink_ of what he figured was their beer bottles. For another couple of minutes they shared stories of their more 'fun' missions, almost all of them having ill intent towards prey. But John wasn't listening anymore, if he did he'd be tempted to go have a word with them. And no one would want that... except maybe him...

"...so I followed after them a bit like he told me to, and would ya believe it, they kissed! A ruttin wolf and a sheep! Nearly made me vomit. So I barreled after them, pushed the disgrace of a wolf aside and gave the sheep a reason to fear all predators. Put 'em both back in their place."

The other slammed the table and started howling. The wolf obviously. "Haha nice man!"

' _Bastards. They don't even realize how much damage they're doing to the city they blame for their own actions. No wonder everyone fears you imbeciles!_ ' This was the exact reason John has been questioning his decision of returning to Zootopia. You got the prey who antagonize the good predators to make the collars go off, which turns good mammals into bad ones. And then you got predators who purposefully instill fear in peaceful prey who no doubt will turn their anger back against those who wronged 's just a nonstop cycle of hatred between the two classes of animals nowadays. The city was now the embodiment of the exact opposite of what he fought for.

The more he thought about it, the madder he got. To the point that one of John's dark brown eyes twitched and his grip around the martini glass tightened enough he was lucky it didn't break.

' _I need more to drink_.' He quickly raised it to his mouth only to find that it was empty and set it back down ungracefully.

He really probably shouldn't...

Too late.

"Hey, Hun. Can you c'mere?" He called out to his badger friend who was currently on the other side of the bar, serving some other customers. In response, without turning his head Hun raised a single finger. John nodded even though his counterpart couldn't see it and gave the duo another glance to make sure they were still there. Yup, hasn't moved yet.

Hearing Hun approach, he turned to him and urgently whispered. "Can I get a beer bottle?"

"A beer bottle?" The honey badger incredulously clarified. "I think you've had enough my friend."

"N-no, no I don't want another drink. Just an empty bottle. I'm sure you have some around."

As he reached below the counter to retrieve one he asked, "Why?"

"So I can fool myself into thinking I still have some drink left. And I want to have something in my hands while I go visit my friends over there." John replied while nodding over to the duo in booth three. Hun was quite dubious of the questionable tactic, there's no way he'd actually fall for that. Following his gesture all Hun saw was a tiger and a wolf sitting at a table. He didn't recognize them but he also didn't keep track of John's social circle. He shrugged it off and handed his pal an empty beer bottle with the tag still on it.

Grabbing the bottle and standing up, John nearly tripped over his own feet as he stood up. Maybe he had a bit much to drink... might as well at least finish of what's in his hand. Lifting the bottle to his lips, he was slightly saddened to find that it was empty.

Oh...

Meanwhile behind the bar a certain Honey Badger couldn't breathe from how hard he was laughing.

Once he got closer to the booth, the predators occupying it glanced up at the clearly drunk deer, and shot two equally disdainful sneers towards him. Both of them taking note of the buck's near lack of antlers on top of his head, cut down to perhaps an inch or two of blunt looking stubs giving them the look of horns more than antlers. The observation got a chuckle out of them, because you know what they say about buck's antlers and the size of their-

"Hey there... er, fellas. I wuz wonderin' if either of you two cud... y'know, help me read this here bottle and tell me wut it says on this here bottle so I can remember wut kind of beer was in this here... uh, bottle." John asked while looking between the two _very_ unamused predators and his empty beer bottle. Purposefully acting far more drunk than he really was. He was certainly above tipsy but he wasn't one to get so drunk to the point he started losing his memory and not being able to talk worth a damn. He was better than that.

The tiger rolled his eyes and was ready to tell the drunken-off-his-horns buck to rut off, but before he could, his wolf friend cleared his throat and motioned with his head behind him. Following his gesture, the tiger saw a rhino standing by the door looking right at him with a mischievous grin, like he was daring him to do what he was thinking about.

The tiger sighed in defeat and leaned in closer to the beer bottle John was still holding out for him. "Look pal, it just says-"

In certain moments it is truly amazing how fast the brain can process information. In just a split second, more than a dozen thoughts can pass through your head. At the same time, while taking an Engineering Physics test, in several minutes, a grand total of two thoughts will pass through; ' _rut me_ ' and ' _what the rut does this mean?_ '

Unfortunately for the tiger, this moment was more on the latter side. In the second that it took John to reel back his hand, shift the bottle into a position resembling the reverse knife position and bring it forward, all that passed through the tiger's mind was: ' _oh fuck…_ '

The glass bottle shattered upon contact with the tiger's temple and sent him into the window with a hollow _THUD._ For a beat, his wolf friend couldn't comprehend what just happened before his eyes. Then fast as lightning, all of the dots connected.

Happy to have an actual reason to use his firearm, the wolf whipped it out and pointed it at the buck's face who instead of being frightened looked more like he was bored. Before he could even react, the buck swept his hands in a scissoring like motion and the wolf's beloved gun went flying out of his hands, clattering useless onto the floor.

The wolf bellowed out a war cry as he lunged forward to tackle the damnable buck. Unfortunately for him, John was well trained in combat and simply sidestepped, and redirected the wolf. John was actually hoping that would happen. He loved when people would try to tackle him. As a deer it was the easiest thing in the world to avoid and take advantage of with his nimble legs.

What John didn't love however, was the chain reaction he inadvertently set in motion. The wolf tumbled behind him, unable to regain his footing fast enough to avoid collision with the unsuspecting zebra in front of him, who was holding his freshly obtained beer. The collision caused the hooved mammal to spill his beverage not only on himself, but also on every other mammal in the immediate vicinity. Turning around to face the mammal that nearly knocked him over, he was less than pleased to find a wolf getting back on his feet and looking rather disheveled.

"Hey!" The zebra yelled. Right as he was pulling his clenched hoof back for a punch, someone else grabbed his loaded punch and yelled, "Hey!"

Looking at who stopped his fist, he came face to face with a mountain lion. More specifically one who had a soaking wet shirt that smelled of beer. Before the zebra could even respond, he was met with a fist to the face. As the zebra stumbled back he fell into a vixen waitress who of course now spilled everything that was on her tray. That happened to be the last straw for the night, and she decided she was having none of THAT nonsense and started giving her 'tip' back to the jerk of a zebra.

In just a few moments, the bar went from its loud and usual behavior, to a full out brawl. Everyone was fighting each other for misguided revenge, for the fun of it, or absolutely no reason and just punched a random guy standing next to him to join in.

What was always an amusing sight for Hun as he stood behind the counter not giving a shit, was that in every fight across the tavern which involved a predator, whenever they'd get a shock, due to the mutual respect everyone had for each other even in the midst of the brawl, the opponent would stop for a moment and allow the predator to recollect himself. Once he or she was ready to go again, the fight would start back up like nothing happened. It was like hitting the pause button!

The rhino bouncer cracked his knuckles and was about to join in the fight to try and break it up (like many others had tried to do) but Hun quickly spoke up in his earpiece. "Don't bother. Let them have their fun, just keep an eye out for lethal action."

The pachyderm smirked. This wasn't the first burly brawl to break out here but this was certainly the biggest. He had to give props to Hun for being so nonchalant about it, even though the predators were surely getting their fur burnt from all the shocks that were going off. "What if I want to have some fun too?"

"No no, I really do need you to make sure no one kills each other."

The rhino visibly deflated. "Nuts. Copy that boss." Nodding to the rhino across the room, Hun walked over to the sound system and paused the current track, looked through his music for a moment then smiled as he saw the perfect one.

While all of this was going on, John still stood not far from booth three, craftily avoiding others and their attempts to draw him into the fight. ' _Whoops.'_ He thought drolly. He was about to walk out when the song that was playing caught his ear.

_...she said leeeaave this one alone_

_She could tell right away, that I was Bad to the Bone._

_Baaaaaad to the Bone. Baaaaad to the Bone._

John looked across the bar searching for his friend. When he found him, the knowing grin on the badger's face made him genuinely laugh for the first time in a long while. Ever since he returned, he often felt like this was his theme song. A feeling Hun vehemently pressed he shouldn't have. No matter how many times he heard other's spiel about 'letting it go', 'leaving your past behind you', or 'all that matters is the present', it did nothing to ease his guilt. A warthog even once told him 'hakuna matata,' to which a drunken John enthusiastically said the same thing back. ' _Whatever that meant_.'

As the brawl raged around him and his theme song played, John figured, ' _You might as well leave while you're ahead_.' He had just taken a step towards the door when a big strong and orange paw grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

John just barely ducked in time as a tiger's paw with his claws fully extended swiped above his head. It was a close enough call that he even felt the gust of wind as the paw just barely missed his splayed out ears.

All in an instant, while he kept the tigers paw pressed across his own body with one arm, John angled his leg on the side of predator, and proceeded to kick one of the tiger's knees in. As a deer, John's legs were of course very thin and nimble, and this allowed him to jump and use kicks exceptionally easy. Since John used to enjoy a good fight, he decided to end this one in a more interesting note. Right after the tiger yelled in pain and was forced to kneel down, the buck leaped high into the air and released a powerful front kick to the tigers face, sending the mammal careening back into the booth he came from with a dazed groan and a bloody nose.

Observing the dwindling consciousness of the tiger, John said. "Dude, you can really take a hit." Deciding better now than never, the veteran quickly took his exit. Weaving and dodging as best he could through all the fights that were going on, he was almost at the door when a leopard thought he'd get lucky by attacking this drunken deer and grabbed at his throat with both hands.

Even though he was drunk, all of his reflexes and training were still there. In a flash he brought both his arms out from his core, spreading the opponent's arms wide leaving the leopards torso wide open for attack, but instead of abusing that opening, John simply head-butted him out cold. It was a good thing he maintained his antlers at a short length or that would've been a lot worse for the feline.

Stepping over the knocked out leopard, his goal was in sight. That's when he heard a rather amusing request from an animal that surely was drunk. "I need your clothes, your keys, and your motorcycle."

With a smirk, John stopped and looked for whoever said such an outrageous thing. Right in the middle of all the commotion stood a buck naked wolf that was much taller than any wolf he'd ever seen, and was currently facing off with an amused black bear of the same height. Curiously enough the wolf was standing extremely rigidly; it reminded John of a soldier at attention. So he just chuckled at the antics of a clearly drunk mammal and then aptly made his escape out of the premise.

_I'm here to tell ya honey, that I'm bad to the bone._

_Baaaad to the bone. B-b-b-b-bad. B-b-b-b-bad_

Upon stepping outside all the noise and music of the bar was quickly muted and drowned out by the sounds of the city. He was clearly in there for far too long as the sun was well below the horizon, street lamps were on, and rush hour was dribbling out of the city streets.

Considering he was definitely past the tipsy point, part of John's mind said he should probably get a cab back to his apartment. But then the other part argued that he ought to walk there because that's what he deserved. He didn't deserve anything good or easy. After all... he was _Bad to the Bone_.

Deep down, was there any difference between him and those speciest terrorists he took care of? Between him or any of the mammals who work for crime lords like Mr. Sandman or Mr. Big? Was there really any difference at core level between him and all the rotten mammals of the city... Fearing predators... antagonizing prey... how was he any better? Well because he's a hero of course! That remains the only logic he has heard from everybody around him. He's a hero so he must be better.

But he did at least know he was better than those two back in the bar. Speciest pricks... he probably shouldn't have started that fight though. It sure didn't make him feel much better. But after hearing that one of them attacked a couple for the simple matter that they were brave enough to be in an interspecies relationship in this day and age really struck a nerve. He'd have to find those two and try and support them as best he could.

Though he had to admit, while interspecies relationships weren't illegal, they are often made a joke of, and are a sort of hidden societal taboo. But a predator and prey relationship like the tiger had described, particularly a wolf and a sheep, was just unheard of. John had to admit, that was kind of weird, but he was still proud of them and would support them if he could. If they were still together after what that prick did that is... Still weird though.

Sorta like that bunny and fox pair that just walked by him. Secretly flirting with each-

Wait what?!

John came to an abrupt halt, losing his balance in the process, and looked behind him. Sure enough, a red fox in a hideous green Pawaiian shirt and a grey bunny that looked to be wearing a cop costume were walking down the street together. Blinking a few times he no longer saw signs of flirtation, but the bunny did seem to be comfortable around his or… ' _Well it's most likely a her actually_ ' natural enemy.

' _Ugh_ …' he needed more to drink. If even _they_ were in a relationship... not that he wanted to be in one, but if even they had found a source of happiness...

Sheesh. Where did these sentimental thoughts come from? How much did he drink? ' _Well is my bottle empty?_ '

Bringing his hands up to investigate, he saw no beer bottle. ' _Oh right, no more beer bottle. Shattered it on the tigers face. Ah good times._ _Well then why'd I leave the bar?_ '

Taking a confident step forward, John's feet nearly betrayed him and moved _behind_ his body, almost causing him to fall flat on his face. Barely catching himself John stumbled forward a few feet. Can't even walk in a straight line...

' _Right... that's why._ '

* * *

"See? That buck wasn't afraid of you." Judy teased while giving Nick a light shove.

"Yeah," Nick said while letting out a soft chuckle. "He was also drunk off his hooves Carrots. _And,_ when he's sober, he knows me. Or I know him at least. Name's John. He's a regular at that bar we just passed."

"You just know everyone don't you Slick?" She said, looking up at him with an amused but critical eye.

"As a matter of fact I do fluff." He smugly said while looking forward, refusing to look into those amethyst eyes again and become distracted by them... _again_.

Ever since this ridiculously cute yet... Admirably strong minded grey bunny barged her way into his life, this day was _not_ going the way that Nick had envisioned it. He had planned on making her lose interest in her twisted career choice by making her see how bad predators were really treated, despite her ideas of how the ZPD treated them. He had planned on curing her of her blind optimism by showing her the rotten side of the city and the sad state Happytown is in. He also had planned to lose her within his own territory after showing her the filth of what she strived to be. Another donut eating, corrupt, speciest and careless blueberry.

But instead she had simply been learning. Maturing. Accepting the truths for what they were but still remaining who she was. It was... commendable. Her fear of him was dwindling too. She was becoming far more comfortable around him and Nick wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. She probably ought not to, since he was a fox and exactly what she expected him to be when they first met. So why couldn't he tear himself away from the inevitably growing connection? It wouldn't be the first time he severed a growing connection for the greater good.

Why would he want to be acquaintances or even friends with a bunny cop? Ignoring the fact that she was far more intelligent than any bunny he's ever known, or how unique of a mammal she clearly was, unlike any prey he's ever known. But she was still a cop; the exact opposite of the kind of person Nick had been aligning himself with for decades. But she was also quite beaut-

 _NOPE_.

Not going down that road. And speaking of road, Nick was hardly even paying attention to where they were walking anymore, yet surprisingly he didn't seem to care. After deciding he didn't want to be in Happytown anymore (not having _anything_ to do with the fact that it unquestionably wasn't safe for a cute lil bunny to be there at night) Nick suggested they walk around Downtown. Surprisingly Judy didn't object and told him she's never actually been there!

So for the past hour or two, he's been giving this... adorable... (yeah, let's use that) bunny cop an unofficial tour of Downtown. He'd only had a couple places in mind to show her, but the entire time they were roaming, her eyes were filled with wonder at the colorful sights of the lit up buildings. She was constantly looking side to side at all the billboards and attention grabbing store signs. He was quite surprised when Carrots had told him she didn't get out much, but it was blatantly obvious. Nick was always under the impression bunnies were inherently extroverts. He just couldn't seem to accurately pinpoint her. It was enticing to say the least.

Judy was thinking very similar thoughts in between all the 'ooh's' and 'aahh's'. What was originally a jerk scam artist fox fulfilling his stereotype, was becoming much more of a deeper male than she gave him credit for. He was caring: shown by his careful observance of her and him pulling her out of the way of wayward elephant and other large animals. He was hurt underneath that cool mask he kept on most of the time, if the way their last argument ended was any indication. Whether from the simplicity of the city's prejudice or other sources, she didn't know. And most of all, he wasn't like any other predator she'd met thus far in her time in Zootopia. She hadn't decided if that was a good or bad thing yet though.

Judy could however objectively tell that she was gravitating closer to him the longer she spent with him. It didn't help that he was rather... well, in the sense of foxes at least, he was... for a male... well anyways. ' _What's all that yelling for?'_

"Hey Nick, is all that yelling and chanting common place for Downtown?" She asked while trying to get a view of the source of noise. It seemed to be coming around the corner of a couple blocks ahead of them.

"Sorta. It's no doubt another one of those predator rights protests." Nick said without even looking up from his Ramdroid, not sounding the least bit interested. Ever since they arrived in Downtown, Nick had seemed awfully glued to his phone. ' _He must not be very comfortable down here_ ,' she mused. ' _Well then why would he bring me here?'_ She couldn't see, but Nick was actually reading a ZNN article and looking at various news sources.

"Oh wait, so like The Surge group? Like that poster we saw? Oh we should go see!"

"Uh, negatory Carrots. Best steer clear of those guys."

"But why? They're fighting for _your_ rights." Judy said turning around and stopping in front of him. Finally, Nick looked up at her, and immediately his ears folded back and his lips gave the slightest inclination of curling back. But Judy stood her ground, placing her hands on her hips.

"What Nick? What do you have against them?"

"Don't be a dumb bunny Judy." Upon hearing her real name for the first time in hours. Maybe the first time he's actually used it, her sternness melted away. "If you'd pay attention to the news, you would have seen that The Surge is gaining a ton of attention, the supporters are getting more aggressive and they're becoming more like zealots than anything. They're not going to do anyone, especially predators, any good."

"You said you wanted me to see all of what Zootopia has to offer. If they're a part of the dirt, or a part of the good, I still want to see it for myself. All part of the learning experience so I can break free of the dumb bunny stereotype right?" She sassed with a carbon copy of one of Nick's smug grins on her muzzle.

It had the desired effect, Nick's opened his eyes all the way, lifted a digit, opened his mouth to try and say something, but nothing came out.

"So come on, let's go." She said, waving him to follow her as she headed towards what Nick knew was the Downtown Park. For a couple moments Nick watched Judy walk off in the direction of the park, half debating if he should just let her walk into the foxes' den.

' _Yeah nope.'_

Begrudgingly, Nick lightly jogged to catch up with her. As the two turned the corner of the block and were given a full view of the protest, both pairs of eyes widened. The entire park was packed full of hundreds of mammals. Most of them were holding cardboard signs high in the air stating things from: 'we're superior, we deserve rights more than you!' to 'we are not dirt, give us equality!' and many other signs of various vulgarity towards prey. One even went as far as to graphically show a wolf severing a sheep's head with the caption 'War for Rights!' in red above it. The mammals around him seemed to love it and yelled for others to see it.

The protest was quickly devolving into something else. It reached a point where mammals were starting to flood the surrounding streets and vandalize everything within reach, bashing in cars' windshields, throwing rocks at windows, even going as far as to set prey owned shops on fire! This was getting quickly out of hand, and Judy expected the ZPD to show up in full force any moment now.

But they never came. Were they even aware? Did Bogo care? This wasn't protesting anymore, this was rioting, and while rioting could be ok in certain cases, this was not.

"Maybe... you're right Nick. But are you sure this couldn't have any positive outcomes?" She asked hopefully, looking up at him. Nick's face was stone as he looked out over the chaos.

"In previous years, or one in particular, a protest gained enough momentum outside City Hall and the ZPD to warrant a news broadcast about it. All it did in the end was up the voltage of the shock in our collars."

Judy winced and wondered how many of the predators in the crowd were getting shocked for being so rowdy. Yet she wasn't entirely unconvinced that this protest wouldn't do any good. This had to be noticed by City Hall. But Nick did say that the last time one was, it only pissed them off.

They're stuck between a rock and a hard place... Judy had to wonder, and Nick did too, unbeknownst to her:' _What is Zootopia supposed to do?_ '


	6. Renegade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright I am back! And with a freakin' awesome editor! Been dealing with far too many (un)healthy doses of adulting lately. And man, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought it'd be. I guess it's time for me to just admit that its length in my plans is not indicative of actual length. So hopefully if anyone was anxiously waiting on the next chapter, that'll be enough for ya'll to forgive me. Lol.
> 
> And I thought last chapter was my favorite, and it was, but now it has been replaced by this one XD And an insurmountable amount of thanks to my editor uomoape once more. We spent quite a number of hours on this chapter, a solid 8 hours again. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: *gasp* STILL don't own Zootopia. Just this story and the original characters.

** Chapter 6: Renegade **

The will to survive is one of the most basic instincts in every animal, be it prey or predator, fox or bunny. So when Nick and Judy stood on the edge of the park where an angry mob of predators was beginning to riot, that instinct made itself known to both of them. For a time, neither of them had any desire to get closer to them.

But then something changed. Like a slowly traveling wave, the crowd calmed down. Once the new found peace reached the duo, they both faintly heard a voice speaking, though couldn't make out the words.

Without looking for confirmation from Nick, Judy walked steadfast into the crowd. "Carrots wait!" Nick desperately called out. But of course she didn't listen and disappeared within the crowd.

Nick groaned and pulled at the fur on his head. Pacing back and forth for a couple moments, his instinct to survive and the will to take care of his new... Well, his new friend, he admitted to himself, battled for the second time in the past ten minutes.

' _This bunny is gonna be the death of me._ ' After a sigh of resignation, he took a deep breath and began making his way through the crowd.

Judy had a far easier time making her way through the crowd as she was less than half the height of the majority of them and could often squeeze or crawl in between their legs. The sun was long gone, and the dim light generated from the park's lamp posts was making it challenging to see down at her level. As a result of something brushing against their legs and the low light, a number of predators let out a startled yell at the feeling and would look down to see nothing, as the bunny had already moved out of view.

After a few minutes of swimming though the ocean of mammals, Judy found a more open area a little higher up on a small hill that was mammal made and served to accommodate a small brook and focused in on hearing the speaker.

"... and when I returned to the heart of the city, I came to see that it had only become even more rotten than when I left it! In that moment I knew I had to do something about it, I had to fight for the rights that were taken from us. The rights that we all deserve!"

"Yeah!" Nearly every mammal around her yelled, but not loud enough to be painful. Judy unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself. Not because she was cold, she was still in Savannah Central after all, but because she couldn't disagree with whoever was speaking. And it wasn't just that, it was the way everyone looked and felt around her. Judy didn't believe in spirituality or empaths and nonsense like that, but she certainly felt some very negative feelings or energy from everybody. She had to wonder how many of the predator here were genuinely concerned about their rights, and how many just wanted to let out some steam and cause some mayhem.

Nearly every mammal's negative emotions here were being fueled by the speech, and the increasingly aggressive aura alone should've made a small prey like her hightail it out of there. But Judy was somewhat intrigued to hear more about other's view on the plight every predator has to endure. She'd only really heard the opinion of a fox that she was sure received a bit of the harsher end of prejudice, and Nick sure showed it under that casual uncaring mask of his.

The resurgence of Nick in her mind made her realize that she had just left him behind outside of the crowd. She turned around and looked in the direction that she came from. ' _Sweet cheese and crackers, I hope he didn't come after me.'_

He had. While Judy hadn't gone too far into the mass of people, Nick traveled much closer to the stage as he figured that's what Judy would've done, momentarily forgetting about her sensitive hearing. He himself lost interest in listening to predators talk about their common plight years ago, so the entire time he'd been searching, he just tuned out whoever was speaking.

But one line finally caught his attention. "...The tame collars, the system behind them, the officials that support it, they _will all_ _END_ if we continue to support what is right! Predator rights! We will surge through this city and _demand_ we get what we deserve! We aren't inferior, if anything THEY ARE!"

"YEAH!" Everyone yelled in chorus once more.

' _They're getting more ambitious,'_ Nick thought. He decided to try and get a view of who was speaking, though he already had a hunch. Sure enough, it was The Hood. Walking back and forth on the stage, practically preaching. Nick could tell why everyone was becoming so interested in what he had to say, he was offering quite the deal and was a very avid storyteller. But mammals were becoming so blinded by their desire, they weren't seeing important details. Like "ending the system and the officials" and the blatant predator superiorism.

The Hood then just so happened to turn and something about Nick must've caught his eyes, because out of the hundreds of mammals around him, he somehow managed to make direct eye contact with the confox.

Before the crowd could notice, The Hood turned back to them and yelled, "And the rotten city of Zootopia will be shocked to discover the strength of predators working together. We will destroy ANY-"

The Hood turned his head slightly, just enough to make eye contact with Nick again, and continued, "and ALL obstacles," then turned back to the crowd and finished as loudly as he could with a raised fist. "That stand in the way of The Surge of predator rights!"

The audience went ballistic; everyone ecstatically yelled their agreement and hundreds of clawed fists pumped into the air. But among all the chaos, two mammals stood still, far apart from each other yet close; two foxes, locked eye to eye.

No words were said, no words were needed, and even if they had spoken they wouldn't have been able to hear the other. Blood red eyes bored into those of an emerald flame. Eyes that even from this distance, The Hood noticed looked far more determined than last he saw. Then without so much of a nod, Nick turned and broke the connection. He needed to find Judy.

He would've tried to isolate her scent and follow it, but there were _far_ too many mammals around for that to be possible. Nick couldn't even retrace his own steps back to where they parted, the hundreds of other predators' scents overpowered his own and he lost the trail within a few feet of where he started.

Trying a new strategy, Nick exited the crowd and began walking back to where he and Judy last were before they entered. Before he made it very far however, a species of mammal that he didn't see very often caught his eye. Specifically a buffalo. More specifically a buffalo that looked an awful lot like the Chief of Precinct One.

What was such an important figure doing standing in a dark alley, near a ballistic predator rights riot, wearing civilian clothes and casually leaning against a wall? Was he trying to be under cover with that ugly yellow plaid button up shirt, shorts and that baseball cap?' _I mean really, get better taste in fashion,_ 'Nick thought. His outfit really didn't do much to help hide his identity to those who knew of him, such as Nick Wilde. But strangest of all was that he looked like he was waiting for someone given the way every moment or two he'd not-so-stealthily look around. Nick really needed to find Judy. Maybe she'd have an idea about what he was up to.

Turning back to the horde of predators, he could hear The Hood once more began preaching so the crowd wouldn't be dispersing anytime soon. ' _Great, how am I ever gonna find her?_ ' Nick pessimistically thought. ' _Gonna need a miracle._ '

"Nick!"

' _No way. There's absolutely no way._ ' Turning slowly to the source of the voice, Nick saw a little grey bunny dressed up in what would look like a cop costume to anyone else, but he knew it was Judy Hopps. No one else could look that cute and... dare he say it? ...No, no he doesn't.

"Well, hallelujah." Nick said with a smirk as she approached.

"Uh, what?"

"Nothing." Nick chuckled at his own sense of humor. "So uh, how'd you find me? I was just about to go looking for you after you dumped my tail in the middle of a street on a cold dark night-"

Judy tried to interject but Nick just kept going on with his dramatic expose. "In order to jump into a horde of vicious angry predators yelling about their deserved rights. I had no idea how I was _ever_ gonna find you, and then boom, there you are, this beaming angel of light." Nick finished with his paws clasped together by his head and blinking rapidly at her with a dreamy look.

Judy raised a finger and opened her mouth to finally speak, but instead of words coming out, she let out a few snorts and chuckles. Recomposing herself, she tried again, only to fail once more and broke into a fit of hysterics. As she laughed the hardest she had in almost a year for a few solid moments, Nick smiled and did his best not to join in, eventually losing the fight and laughing along with her.

Once Judy's giggles significantly calmed down, Nick asked with a smile that, again, he truly did not have to put in any effort to form. "So how _did_ you find me?"

As she looked back up at him with a bright smile left over from her laughs, Nick felt his stomach do a few somersaults and get carried away by a flock of butterflies. "I just-" Another few giggles escaped her, "Just a standard technique for finding someone. When you lose each other, head back to where you last both were. After being raised in a family with over 275 siblings, you get pretty good at finding those that are lost."

"You had over 275 siblings?!" Nick nearly screamed in surprise. As an only child that never kept in touch with his mother after he left his childhood home, the idea of so many children, all part of the same family was mind blowing.

Judy once more giggled. She might have to cut down on the giggling in the future, but for now she wanted to hold onto that giddy feeling that was hanging out in her system. "Yup, or at least that was the count when I left for Zootopia. I've… sorta, not been in _as_ much contact as I... once was."

Bringing up the topic of her parents and the train of thought that came with, the happy go-lucky feeling in her faded. Not wanting Nick to see how emotional of a bunny she could sometimes be, she slightly turned to the side and start idly rubbing one of her long limp ears.

Nick softly followed her with his gaze. Curious to find out a little bit more of the bunny's back story. He was about to respond when movement over by the buffalo caught his eye. A tiger was now walking up to him and the two certainly did not look happy to see each other. "When I moved here... Well, they were never-"

"Uh, sorry Carrots, hate to interrupt." Hearing the urgency in his voice, she snapped her gaze back to Nick to see him gesturing off towards her left. "Do you happen to recognize that buffalo?"

' _Buffalo?!'_ She only knew one buffalo. She turned her head to where he was gesturing.

Over in a dark alley stood an interesting pair. There was a tiger wearing a basic blue t-shirt and some heavily worn out jeans. And next to him was a buffalo wearing clothes that reminded her a lot of what Nick would wear, apart from that hat that really... Wait.

She squinted her eyes, trying to be doubly sure that her vision wasn't out of focus with the dim lighting. Was that...? NO... no it couldn't be. Why would... What was _he_ doing here?!

Nick observed the changes in Judy's features as she initially looked over to her boss. It was quite obvious when she recognized him. Suddenly her face morphed from a curious and analytical to all the emotions he usually noted on the faces of prey who were afraid of him: fear, judgement, disbelief.

"So you see him?"

Judy nodded.

"Don't stare then. Everyone gets that sixth sense that they're being looked at. Fun fact, this happened when you were oogling me when we first unofficially met."

 _That_ got her to look away. And for a split second, she looked back at Nick and then immediately diverted her gaze to somewhere else, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. _'Sweet cheese and crackers, so thankful for fur right now. Blushes don't show through fur.'_ While she was right, the fox could tell nonetheless that she was blushing from her body language.

Nick smiled smugly. He was always great at making the vixens blush. "But enough of that, without being obvious, look at the tiger next to him." For a moment Judy stood there thinking, then she pulled out her phone and turned at a slight angle so the two were in the edge of her vision. Nick smiled proudly at her technique. _'Clever bunny.'_

"If I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am, that tiger is a member of The Surge. His name is Delgato. And if there were any semblance of rank in their group, he'd be higher up in it. So what would an important figure in The Surge be doing talking to the Chief of Police?"

Judy frowned. How did he know that tiger was a member of The Surge? And how'd he known his name too? He may know everyone but did he know every single predator that was in The Surge? 'Cause that seemed like a lot of mammals. "Maybe he's just talking to an informant. Delgato could be a spy?" She tried.

"Possibly. But then why haven't the ZPD ever done anything against them? If he _was_ an inside source, then you'd think the Chief would be trying to do something actually useful for once."

Judy smirked at the irony of that. She struggled to not start laughing again and turned her vision away from the pair as she stifled her giggles. For some reason Nick almost chuckled too and took a moment to reflect on how the sound of her laughing was music to his ears. But then the two started walking down the alley way and out of his peripheral vision.

Finally turning his head towards them he said, "They're leaving." Judy turned to look too.

"We should follow them Nick, see if maybe I could get an ear in on their conversation. Might be rather valuable intel."

"I agree." She was about to break into a run after them when Nick grabbed her arm.

"But _don't_ just run after them, running into a situation headfirst like you did with that crowd back there."

"It's worked for me so far. And I don't _always_ run headfirst into a situation." She hotly defended.

"Did you think before you confronted those predators that tried to assault me? Did you plan before you came after me? Did you imagine what could possibly go wrong before getting swallowed by a crowd of riled up predators?" Nick challenged.

Judy deflated. He was right, but Nick had other concerns than to rub that in her face right now.

"We can argue about this later. Come on. If we take this alley we can catch up to them unless they want to walk down a major road, which I doubt."

For the first time since she's known him, Nick actually broke into a run. She had to hop to it to catch up with him, he was surprisingly fast.

Once they were across the road and into the maze of dark alleyways, Nick slowed them down to a power walk and whispered. "A tiger, a feline, has rather good hearing too Carrots. Did that cross your mind before you enacted your eavesdropping plan?"

Judy lowered her head in shame. After a moment of hearing no comeback or protest, Nick turned to her in concern. Seeing her slightly down state, he slowed to a stop and spoke softly. "I'm not judging you Cottontail. Just... trying to help you. There are different situations for different mindsets. I'm sure jumping in headfirst has worked well in the past, but with espionage and sneaking around, that's just not the correct way of approaching this."

Judy smiled a little at the rare show of the fox's kindness. _'Guess he can be as soft as his fur under that mask of his.'_

"I understand, you're right Nick. And thank you. I guess it's a darn good thing you're with me then, huh."

Nick was taken aback. No one had ever taken what he'd said to such depth of heart. And he definitely could not recall the last time he heard someone say they were thankful for his presence. _Especially_ prey.

Judy smiled up at Nick, or at least where she thought he was, and Nick smiled in return, feeling that warmth return to his core. What was with that stuff? It kept returning when she smiled or laughed.

Nick noticed though that she wasn't directly looking into his eyes when she was smiling. He had mostly forgotten about how dark it must be for a mammal without night vision. "Oh right, you can't see very well right now, can ya Carrots?"

"No not really, I can distinguish you from the walls and most objects. But I nearly ran into that trash can back there."

"Aww does the lil' bunny need to hold my hand?" Nick said patronizingly while pouting his lips, even though he figured she couldn't see it. The offer wasn't entirely out of jest however. Maybe he should offer seriously...

"Don't make me hurt you." She grumbled. Though Nick was pretty sure he detected a hint of humor in it. "Just cause my sight is out doesn't mean my hearing... Is."

Just then, both sets of ears perked up. Nick had led them down an alley perpendicular to the one their targets had gone down, and after a small bend, the two intersected between four buildings, forming a cross. They could could hear footsteps and mumbled words echoing ahead of them. Instinctively they both crouched down and moved closer to the wall in case they were heading towards them. Turns out that was a smart move, as they passed right in front of them. Luckily neither of the mammals noticed the pair crouched down behind a collection of trash cans and went right on through.

They waited a few moments to make sure they wouldn't be so close as to get caught while following them. Nick was about to take off when Judy reached out to stop him. "Uh, Nick? Could I... could... we... what you said earlier about... my sight and-"

"Oh, yeah, here, grab on." He held out his forearm to her and she meekly grabbed on. She was admittedly disappointed he didn't hold out his hand.

She didn't have much time to think about that though, soon after they were jogging down the dark alleyway with only Nick's night vision to lead them and she had to focus on not tripping over her own feet. "We're turning left in 3...2...1."

Judy was thankful for the warning but once he did turn, even with the warning she found her grip on his forearm to be less than satisfactory. The tiger and buffalo were obviously going to great lengths to make sure they were alone, going back and forth between interconnecting alleys to make any possible follower lose their tracks. One second they would be scurrying down a straight alley, only to dive into another immediately after. Fortunately for Nick, this wasn't the first time he tailed someone, and knew how to keep them in his radar. That, and he knew every alley in Zootopia like the back of his paw.

"Turning right in 3...2...1." Once more Judy's grip almost slipped as they jerked to the side. Making up her mind, her paw traced its way down his forearm until she reached his paw. With a nervous gulp, she grabbed a hold of his right paw with her left. She hoped he wouldn't take this the wrong way.

For a second or so, their pace slowed down and Judy felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Was he going to be angry? Demand such a pathetic prey as her let go of him? Was he-?

Then she felt him slightly rotate his paw and they entwined their fingers. Judy was thankful for the darkness as it once more felt like her face was on fire. Without a word they sped back up. Two different species, holding hands together as they ran through the darkness.

Judy didn't know for what reason he decided to actually hold hands like a couple, but it had the benefit of a much stronger grip, that's for sure. When they turned right again, she didn't falter in her steps in the slightest even though he was on her left and had to slightly push against her to turn.

As they came up to another 'T' intersection, the alley in front of them was a bit more illuminated. And what more, they could hear Delgato and Bogo speaking a more clearly. But now there were also the many other noises of city life.

"...need for such secrecy? If anyone was following us we would've lost them ages ago." Bogo's deep and gruff voice said. Oh how she _didn't_ miss the sound of that voice.

"Once we cross the street we'll be in Savannah Central. I'm not comfortable telling you what I know in Downtown. There could be ZBI spies anywhere." They heard Delgato say.

"And when we're in Savannah Central that chance would be diminished?"

"I know that district far better and there are far more predators so no prey will get the idea to eavesdrop. Or does that make even the largest of prey nervous?"

A snort. "Hardly. But I don't like following a predator aimlessly through his own territory at night through dark alleys where I could easily be walking into a trap."

"Ok let's make something crystal clear, _right now_. I don't like you, you don't like me. But are we on the same side, or not?"

A pause.

"Then shuttup and trust me. If I was trying to kill you I would've already."

Sticking her head out of the alley, Judy saw the back of the two as they walked onto the sidewalk. Keeping low to the ground she ran up to the edge of the alley to see where they were headed. Currently they were both standing at an intersection waiting to cross the street.

Nick crouched down next to her and they both looked out. "So do we just tail them far enough back that they don't see us?" Judy asked.

"No. They'll most likely be checking behind them and would spot us immediately. We stick out like a sore thumb, and your boss would recognize us in no time flat. No, what we need is a group of mammals... Just. Like. Them." Judy followed where he was looking and saw a group of what looked like college students out and about, partying like there's no tomorrow. The perfect crowd to hide behind.

As the group walked up to Bogo and Delgato, they both rolled their eyes. Neither of the two were particularly gregarious mammals, both preferring their own company to that of others. As such, the pair never partook in outings like the one happening behind them, not really understanding the need for such a thing. They really were more similar than they thought.

The traffic light switched to tell them to walk across. "Come on," Nick said.

At some point while they were running down the sidewalk their paws separated. Judy only noticed now that they were standing behind the rowdy group of mammals, several of which were holding paws. They didn't need to be doing that anymore of course, but Judy found herself wanting to establish that connection once more. His paws were quite comforting around hers, and she almost liked how much bigger his were. Did it make her feel safe? Was that it? 'Cause that made sense...

"Modern camouflage 102 Carrots. When hiding from mammals in plain sight, blur your image with that of others."

Judy smiled at the clever tactic. "Clever fox." She mumbled mostly to herself.

"Hmm, what was that?" He teased, leaning down a bit as they crossed the street.

Catching onto his jesting, she looked up at him with his own expression once more. "I said you're a dumb fox. Happy?"

Instead of responding, Nick just smiled at the irony. He might be enjoying his time with this bunny a bit too much. He turned his head back to the two mammals they were tailing, of which he could just barely make out through the group of friends in front of them.

Now that they were on the other side of the street, they turned down another alley. He almost felt like groaning cause he'd have to lead Judy through the dark again, but that also meant they'd be holding paws once more and Nick wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.

When she first put her small paw in his own, he was very shocked that she'd place such trust in him, or was so comfortable that she'd put her own paw in one that she no doubt thought was full of sharp predatory claws. But regardless, it caused warmth to spread throughout his chest. She trusted him... And he couldn't argue that it was a better idea than holding onto his arm as they sped through the alleys.

Now that they were across the street and their cover was going in a different direction than their targets, it was time to go. "Alright Cottontail, ready for round two of Dark Alley Running?"

She lightly chuckled and without hesitation they linked their paws together and slunk into the darkness of the alley. There was only one way the pair could've gone for a couple hundred feet but it was extremely dark in here with only the faintest of light coming from the moon and stars above them. It was all up to Nick now.

They could hear them talking around the corner of the intersection in front of them. Judy of course couldn't tell where it was but she could hear them.

"...what you know already. I'm tired of this." Bogo grumbled.

"You're pushing my patience too, buffalo." Delgato growled. "But look, you don't know the full truth about The Surge yet, do you?"

"I know enough."

"No, I don't think you do." Delgato countered. "You know what everyone else does. But what I'm trying to tell you is that that is all just a front."

A long silence passed and Judy fought to control her breathing rate as she and Nick crouched down. This is exactly what they were wanting to hear.

"A front?" Bogo confirmed dubiously.

"Yes. While nothing said is a lie, all the goals The Hood has made clear to the public are true. The _how_ of their plans and some of the more devious parts of it, he's only letting a pawpicked few know."

"And are you one of those few?"

"Well no, but that's not the point."

"Then what do I need you for? After all this time you've come back empty handed."

"Because I'm your only connection to them and I can tell you want something. Maybe to make a deal. Or maybe..." Delgato smiled mischievously as he theorized out loud. "You want to be on their good side for some reason."

"The ZPD doesn't-"

"Not the ZPD you simpleton, _you."_

Another few moments of silence passed. Judy inched forward on the ground, trying to get closer. What could Bogo ever want from The Surge? He was the Chief of Police; he should be fighting them right now, not trying to get in their graces. How could he betray the city he has sworn to protect? Was everybody actually right to be suspicious of the ZPD?

Bogo marched up to Delgato's face, they were now eye to eye and the buffalo spoke far more menacingly, sounding more intimidating than he normally would. Not that he really needed to, when a towering two tons of muscles speaks to you, it's almost impossible not to feel at least a little bit intimidated. To his credit however, Delgato didn't even flinch. "Now listen here you overgrown rug, I do _not_ -"

Nick was focused on listening to the conversation but noticed Judy inching forward closer to a dumpster that he wasn't sure she knew was there. Because of the darkness she didn't notice the pile of bottles and cans in front of her. No doubt someone left the pile of recyclable trash there, too lazy to put them into the dumpster a foot away.

"Carrots n-" He hissed and reached out to try and stop her but it was too late. She knocked one over, and caused all the rest of the pieces of trash to fall like dominoes, making quite a ruckus.

The noise of the glass bottle falling over and rattling a few cans was deafeningly loud in this tense situation. Nick was positive the other pair heard and thinking quickly, he clasped his paw over Judy's mouth to quiet her breathing and pressed themselves against the dumpster as close as possible just in case the two came searching. The tension in the air was palpable.

"What. Was. That?" Bogo asked.

"Probably just some random mammal. Homeless predators peruse these alleys all the time. Pay it no-"

"I _am_ paying it heed. _You_ were the one suspicious about being followed. That could _easily_ be someone eavesdropping. With how many mammals are behind The Surge now, homeless predators could be the perfect spies. We're doing this my way now, come on."

With their hearts thumping in their ears, they heard the two leave the alley passing right by the dumpster they were hiding behind. Judy heard Bogo stomp his way out but didn't hear Delgato walking. Was he looking for them? Or did cats just walk so quietly that-

 _Sniff...sniff_. Oh, he was sniffing for them.

' _Sweet Mufasa that dumpster stinks.'_ Delgato thought as he scanned the alley with his night vision. Sending the empty dark backstreet one last skeptical glance, he followed after Bogo. Seeing him standing in front of a cafe, he approached and asked, "Why in here?"

"Small shop, indoors. It'd be easy to see if anyone coming in after was interested in us."

Delgato grunted at the undeniably smart move and stepped in after him. Not a moment later, Nick and Judy slowed to a stop in front of it. The glass window read:

Jumbeaux's Cafe

"Well, it's been fun guys. But that's game over for us." Nick intoned. "Bogo would definitely recognize you, and maybe me. And the owner and I... well, let's just say he's a proud sponsor of my pawpsicles, so he'll recognize me too."

Judy sent a half-hearted glare mixed with a lopsided grin at him. Judy looked around for ideas.

She started scanning her surroundings, looking for anything that could help them. Movement on her left caught her eye, and she turned to look at what was happening down the road. A group of street performers were cleaning up from their last show not too far where she was standing. They must've been acting out something rather interesting given the variety of their costumes. A hat was placed on the pavement for any mammal that enjoyed their act.

Suddenly an idea struck Judy, and a smirk started to spread on her lips.

* * *

The bell signaling customers entering ringed. Bogo looked over to see the new arrival and raised an eyebrow at the odd pair walking in. He didn't get a good look at their faces but what was likely a hare was wearing a trench coat and top hat. The fox with him had a horrendous looking pair of star glasses on, a black t-shirt, gold chain and a backwards baseball cap. If he was trying to look like a dick, he succeeded.

' _And I thought I looked horrible in_ THIS _costume.'_ Bogo drawled to himself as he sipped his tea. "You were saying?" He said after gently setting his teacup back down on the little plate.

Delgato once more fought to not go hysterical at the sight. It was strange to see such a large mammal, and one as callous as Bogo, be so gentle with something so fragile. It almost made Delgato curious about him, if he didn't have such a disdain for the Chief of Police.

Delgato was actually thankful for the interruption; it gave the tiger a bit more time to think. He wasn't sure on how much the buffalo in front of him should know about The Surge. While he _was_ an insider working for Bogo, revealing everything he knew about the organization would be a tremendous blow for them, and he wasn't sure that was what he wanted.

Bogo on the other hand was still in his constant state of irritation, but was also thankful for the interruption as it allowed him to calm down. He _hated_ tigers. It made Bogo wonder if the mayor had assigned Delgato as his secret agent on purpose just to spite him. The two never did see eye to eye very well, despite their dislike of predators. But tigers were the worst. They're the one predator able to stand up to the might of a buffalo. Lions come close in second, but they're usually far more docile than tigers. Too caught up in their honour and logic to pick a fight with someone of equal prowess.

"So?" Bogo finally pushed. He just wanted to be done with this meeting already..

"The point is, they're up to something. I haven't been able to figure out what." _'Bit of a white lie.' "_ But one thing is for sure. All the protesting, rioting, all that only has one purpose, to recruit mammals. Apart from that it is a front to the eyes of the public."

"Planning something?" Bogo repeated angrily. "That's it?! I am keeping the ZPD off your guys' trail, so you need to give me something in return like we agreed upon, or I'm gonna make this far more difficult for all you complainers."

Delgato fought not to lunge at the cocky Cape buffalo who must have had his horns twisted on too tight. But his lips did curl and a quiet snarl escaped from his throat. He felt his shock collar buzz in warning, its yellow light telling him to cool it.

"I told you, I don't know. They're not just protesting, they're trying to get a revolution going, and at this rate they're going to succeed. And it _won't_ be good for prey and the officials who caused the degradation of this city." Bogo stiffened and sent a glare. Delgato responded in kind and bared his teeth a little. "Either on purpose... or indirectly."

"And you said we're on the same side." Bogo said with a hint of a malicious grin.

"We are." Delgato said as he stood up and glared down upon the buffalo. "...For now."

Not liking for anyone to try and intimidate him, especially by height, Bogo stood up too and met the tiger's gaze with equal ferocity. They were of equal height now, eye to eye. Without another word, the tiger turned and took his exit.

Bogo significantly relaxed once the predator was gone and let out a quiet breath as he sat back down. He didn't how to classify that meeting. Did it go well? No, not really. Did he get what he needed? Well, yes and no. Delgato did provide some new information, but it wasn't nearly enough to make any difference.

Despite the threats from Delgato, and the news reports surrounding The Surge, Bogo was hardly concerned about them. This group would fail just like all the others. There is no strength in numbers when the conviction that they all follow is weak. Predators whining about the collars around their necks to protect 90% of the population from their savagery was hardly a commendable effort. The collars are for the best of everybody and what they have right now is a solid and respectable system that will guarantee their children's future. Anyone wanting to change that was abhorrent in his eyes, and The Surge was no different. They were just a bunch of predators that didn't know their place in society, and wanted to plummet his city into chaos. Chaos that the future generations would have to deal with, and he wasn't about to let that happen.

On that note, Bogo looked to the empty teacup on its little plate and smiled fondly. It reminded him of his daughter. The one mammal his wife always pointed out he was a true softy for. ' _All for you.'_

Leaving his tip and sending a courtesy nod to the elephant named Jumbeaux, Bogo headed to the door. Before he opened it though, he looked over at the fox and rabbit pair that was still sitting in the corner table.

He felt... off about them. And after all his years of policing, he knew to trust his gut. They both had odd tastes in fashion; both had coffees in their paw and were quietly talking to each other so nothing seemed out of the norm. Apart from the odd pairing of them. Maybe that's all it was. He just didn't trust the fox with a rabbit. Those were natural enemies after all, so what're they doing together?

Knowing better than to stomp on over and ask some citizens what they're up to, Bogo shrugged it off and walked out the door with the small bell above signaling his exit.

* * *

Judy felt out of breath. She had only begun to doubt the purity of the ZPD earlier today, and now here, right in front of her, she heard proof of it. Nothing was what it was supposed to be in this city, and now not even the ZPD held up to the image she had of them growing up. Nick was right, again.

But The Surge...

With what Judy heard the fox leader of them earlier say, and with what they just overhead Delgato tell Bogo, the group indubitably has ill intentions for the city. They think they're starting a revolution for the rights of predators, but all they'll end up doing is destroying the fragile society of Zootopia and no doubt the city with it.

"Carrots?" Nick asked, looking at her concerned.

"We need to figure out what they're planning, Nick." She said without looking up at him.

Nick sighed and leaned back, slightly shaking his head. "What's the point of trying to fight them Judy?"

"What? How could you say that?" She said looking up at him now, aghast.

"Judy even the ZPD is involved in whatever they're doing. We have no allies. A vast majority of the predator population is on their side. No prey would want to even stand up against them. What do _you_ expect to do?"

"I expect to try. Try to make the world a better place."

Nick avoided her gaze and Judy could tell that his mask was now off. Suddenly the handsome fox in front of her looked defeated and forlorn. He was no longer holding himself up with a confidence that Judy was beginning to suspect was only superficial. "'Never try never fail' bears more success than that. Trying never works out well for me."

"But if you 'try everything' Nick. Surely you'll succeed eventually." Judy tried, not wanting to see her new friend so down.

Nick snorted at the pop culture reference. "What year is it? That song came out ages ago."

"You mean almost a year ago."

"Right, yeah."

Judy chuckled and saw a small grin on Nick as well. But it soon faded away and Judy's followed. "Nick... 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good mammals to do nothing.' If the good mammals do nothing, what hope does Zootopia have?"

"What are you rabbit, a walking fortune cookie?" He jested. But to Judy, it sounded hollow; it lacked the usual underlying humor to it.

She shrugged. "Quotes like that are what keep me going. I'd rather say things like that and keep moving than be a depressed lump of fur that just moans about the wrongdoings of the city."

He made for no response. Her quote about good mammals was ringing in his head. ' _I'm not a good mammal._ ' He kept reminding himself. He knew better than to think that. A con mammal, a fox, a predator that was once with The Surge...

"I'm going to go out there and do the best I can. Light is easy to find in darkness, I'm sure other good mammals will show themselves. I found you, didn't I?"

Without waiting for a response she quickly strode out of the building.

' _I found you, didn't I?'_ She believed he was a good mammal? Nick's head was spinning with conflictions. He had once aspired to be a mammal like her. He _tried_ to join the junior ranger scouts, and had instead gotten beaten and muzzled for being a fox. He _tried_ to be a good mammal and fight for what was right but failed miserably. Though he was just on the wrong side. But what was different this time...? Who's to say he was on the right side now?

* * *

Judy was shaking.

She had to leave that place before her own resolve shattered. She didn't know where she was going. She honestly didn't know _what_ she was gonna do. She just knew she was gonna do _something_. Fight the corruption of the ZPD. Get City Hall to do something about The Surge... well no that wouldn't work. Do... something about The Surge. End them but... Fight for what was right... But what _WAS_ right?!

Judy stopped walking. Her eyes were burning in the comfortably warm air of Savannah Central at night. She wouldn't cry. Bunnies are emotional yes, especially her father, but if she was going to fight alone she couldn't break down now at the beginning of it...

Her eyes were filling up with tears, her nose starting to quiver...

But she was alone. Her family was hundreds of miles away, and even if they were here they wouldn't support her. They would never have the gall to stand up to The Surge. She couldn't blame them though; nobody else seemed to, even the ZPD.

A tear started streaming down her left cheek and a slight sob escaped.

Then she felt a soft nudge to her right. Immediately she wiped away the tear and looked up to say sorry to whoever she was in the way of.

And she saw a pointed snout smiling down at her without an ounce of smugness on it. It was that damnable red furred muzzle with those damn emerald eyes of his. Eyes that spoke of a soft caring right now that she really needed, along with that damn handsome face of his... He had shed his disguise to her relief and was back to wearing his usual outfit that once looked horribly out of style to her and now looked rather good on him. Somehow it just seemed to fit him.

Her leap of faith paid off… Maybe she wouldn't have to figure out how to fight them by herself after all. Softly and still teary eyed she said, "Always good to see you Nick." And his smile only grew.

"You too, Holmes."

"Wuh..? Oh." She knocked the top hat off her head and shrugged off the long coat.

"That's better." Said Nick, still fondly smiling down at her. Judy felt a few butterflies in her gut because he, just like she thought of him, thought she looked better in her usual outfit.

Both of them felt a surge of optimism grow inside their core. They weren't alone anymore. They didn't have to continue the fight on their own. For once, they could rely on someone else, someone that would be right at their side ready to pick up the pace if they started to lag behind.

 _They wouldn't be alone in this fight_.

* * *

Once... twice... third time's a charm.

With a grunt John pushed in the key and turned the lock of his front door to his apartment and shoved it open with his shoulder. He was tired. He had been walking mostly drunk for around an hour, or more, he didn't know.

Kicking it closed behind him, he stumbled his way over to the kitchen. He turned on the lights and regretted that decision immediately. The world wasn't spinning anymore (well not to him) but his legs still felt wobbly and his head fuzzy. After stumbling around through his kitchen, opening various cabinets, forgetting where all his cups were, opening the dishwasher, he _finally_ managed to get a glass and fill it with water.

Making it over to his living room he collapsed on the couch and turned on the TV. It was still on the ZNN channel and he raised his hoof with the remote to change it but what was on the screen succeeded in snagging his attention. So he let his arm sag back down and took a few hefty gulps of water that his body desperately needed.

Right now John's personal favorite news anchor, Peter Moosbridge, was just analyzing and discussing a picture of what he thought to be a large gathering of people in the top right corner. But John wasn't really listening, the moose was just talking about some predators in some place protesting again.

He raised the glass of water to his mouth, only to find it empty. _'Ugh, this keeps happening.'_ So he got up to refill his glass.

"..a protest turned riot in Downtown Park. Reports are coming in recounting numerous accounts of vandalism and violence springing up, and curiously, no sign of the ZPD attempting to mitigate the situation. And now, we're live with Andy Lagopus on the scene. Andy?"

John peeked his head out of the kitchen. ' _Who?'_

"Thanks Peter." The deep voice of an arctic wolf said. John smirked at the obnoxiously bright light blue suit and tie the wolf was wearing. Bit ostentatious. What was it with predators and screwball tastes in fashion? Is it their way of rebelling against society? Though nowadays they seemed to have another output for that.

"As you can see behind me, this protest has gained an enormous following of predators. All protesting the supposed lack of rights related to the tame collars and City Hall's repression of their attempts at regaining such rights."

John walked closer to the TV, standing behind the couch with the refilled glass of water in his hand. He was now fully captivated and idly sipped at his water.

"If you zoom in behind me you'll see that their leader, known only as The Hood, is on the theater stage speaking to them all."

The camera zoomed in on a fox pacing back and forth on the stage with a dark grey sweater with the hood on. John nearly choked on his water from laughing. ' _That's The Hood?! He actually wears a hood! That's hysterical! What happened to creativity?!'_

But as the camera spent more time on him and Andy was continuing to talk, John refocused his attention on the screen. With the minimal light cast upon him, The Hood's red eyes seemed to glow as he looked over the roaring crowd with a satisfied smile. But a certain unspoken malice was hidden behind them, as if he-

John's eyes widened. His hand fell slack and the glass fell to the floor, shattering upon contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Fun fact, my editor and I have a number of amusing arguments (amusing cause they're over such minutia) and one of them was over the use of those lines breaks up above. And did you know, that reviews are an author's best friend? Follow's and favorites are great too but feedback is the best. Thankfully my editor has given a few healthy doses of that stuff. 'Till next time!
> 
> And I promise it won't be nearly as long. The next chapter is already all fleshed out and I'm far enough ahead it's safe to write.
> 
> Oh, P.S. If anyone from the site of ZNN reads this, particularly Andy Lagopus (yes that's actually a real person)... sorry XD But hey, yo, if you guys aren't aware of ZNN, that's an awesome place for any avid Zootopia fan. Came across my favorite story there, Water Under the Bridge.


	7. One Night in Bangkok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I might as well just admit now that I no longer am able to accurately tell how long a chapter is gonna be from just how long it is in my chapter summary XD Surprisingly enough in the early stages of this chapter I actually didn't really like it that much, but now I sure do! And a lot of that is thanks to my awesome editor uomoape! Though fair warning, this chapter definitely utilizes the T rating of this story. There will be some blood, violence and naughty words but nothing close to even considering moving this to M. Or at least I don't think so.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Zootopia, just this story and the OC's.

**Chapter 7: One Night in Bangkok**

Nicholas Wilde wasn't usually one to enjoy walking the streets of Downtown Zootopia at night in full display. Not sneaking around, just strolling down the street among every other mammal. It went again his entire nature of being a fox. Where's the stealth in that? But a couple hours earlier he had decided to make an exception for a beautiful bunny who had never spent time here. So he showed her around.

Boy did those plans take an unexpected turn quickly.

As it turns out, his evening was not about to be just a relaxing stroll through the streets of downtown. What with being roped into a protest lead by The Surge first, then sneaking around through dark alleys leading a basically blind rabbit by paw, and ultimately eavesdropping on one of the most conspiratorial conversation he ever heard.

All in all, this was _exactly_ why he didn't enjoy spending much time in Downtown. This is where _all_ the drama happens. So spending more time waltzing the streets, even next to his new found favorite bunny, was not ideal. "Alright Fluffbutt," Nick finally said. "I am officially ending 'Le grande tour of Downtown'."

"Huh, what?" Judy said as she stopped and looked up at him, only then registering what he had said. "Oh I'm so sorry, were you showing me things? I guess I kinda got lost in thought."

"Ah. No I was not. What were ya thinking about?"

"Well." Judy quietly said, looking off into the distance once more and idly wringing her paws together. "If we're actually gonna try and do something about The Surge it's... gonna be difficult."

"Oh really? Well carrot sticks, there go my hopes of just sitting down with them, having some tea and biscuits, and telling them to cool their jets." Nick facetiously teased in response.

"Oh shut up you dumb fox." She laughed and shoved him in good humor. Nick chuckling a lil' himself. "But no, I mean, this is really complicated. We have no allies as far as I'm aware. The ZPD certainly won't be of use, and speaking of them, _I'm a cop._ AND-"

"Wait wait wait." Nick suddenly interrupted, holding both his paws up. Judy paused and looked up at him with wide attentive eyes. "I didn't know that..."

"Know what?" Judy pressed, still very captivated.

"You're a cop?!" Judy deflated and glared at him but a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"A bunny cop. Wow. You must be like the first of your species to do so, huh?" Nick continued with his charade with his signature half lidded eyes and smug smile.

"Yup, we're pretty uncommon. But you know what's even _more_ rare?" Nick slightly tilted his head in curiosity but could tell she was playing along.

"A _fox_ police officer. In fact, I think they're so rare, there's not any _at all_." She finished with her own eyes half lidded and such a smug smile on her face he almost wanted to lean down and-

' _Hey!'_ A separate part of his mind interrupted as it just caught onto what she said.

"Heh, watch out there Carrots, with an attitude like that, people might confuse you for a fox."

"I. Regret. Nothing." Judy said as she continued walking forward with her head held up high. It reminded Nick of something that a vixen would do.

So as he would have done if she truly were one, when he caught up to her, he hip checked her. But since Judy was such a smaller mammal than a vixen, she was thrown a bit more to the side than he expected. He. Regretted. Nothing.

With a huff and a growing smile, she hip checked him right back, sending him just as far to the left. Nick laughed as he was sent off course by a surprising amount of force. ' _That bunny has got some hips on her.'_

After a few more chuckles escaped both of them, Judy continued. "So, as I was saying, apart from those previously mentioned complications. I was also sent to bring you in within 48 hours, otherwise Chief Bogo will transfer me to some other precinct."

"Would that be so bad though? I thought you hated him."

"Well I can't imagine I'd be treated any better elsewhere and I'd probably have even less to do if he threw me to Precinct 4 in Sahara Square."

"So why stay at all?"

"Because this was my dream job as far back as I can remember Nick. Didn't I tell you this?"

"Uh... if you did I didn't care at the time." Judy smiled at all that was implied in that simple statement.

"Well, yeah. Ever since I was a kit, making the world a better place, fighting crime, and solving mysteries sounded like the best thing ever. My parents weren't ever very keen about that idea though. But when I was... nine I think? A fox named Gideon Grey, who was always bullying my friends and I, he...well."

Nick stiffened as soon as she mentioned that a fox once bullied her. He only got tenser when she was apprehensive to tell him what happened.

"Omitting the irrelevant details, I stood up to him and in response he clawed my cheek. He pinned me against the ground after that and told me that I could never be anything more than a stupid carrot farming dumb bunny."

Nick's heart sunk as everything clicked into place. _That's_ why she was so afraid of him. She just had a bad experience with foxes! It had made zero sense before why she was so afraid of him for a time, but wasn't afraid of any other predators. She stood up to those big cats that were going to attack him and then dove headfirst into a crowd of angry predators. She simply wasn't conditioned to fear predators like the rest of the prey population.

"Anyway. I took that as more of a challenge than anything and I suppose my desire to prove him wrong is what really pushed me through the academy to ultimately become the Valedictorian of my class."

"You were even the valedictorian?! Daaamn!"Judy wasn't used to receiving much praise about that accomplishment, even if it _was_ a major one, and shied away.

Judy had felt _so_ triumphant when the mayor pinned on her badge, happily assigned her to Precinct One and took some pictures with her. And since she was the first bunny cop, even an article was written about her! But her fame only lasted a day or two after the graduation ceremony. It quickly became apparent that not many mammals actually cared about the valedictorian title _or_ that she was the first bunny cop. _Especially_ her fellow officers.

_Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz._

' _Ugh, and speaking of unsupportive mammals.'_

Instead of pulling out her phone, Judy just kept walking. She didn't want to talk to her parents right now. She'd rather keep talking to Nick. The first mammal in _months_ who seemed to genuinely care about her achievements.

_Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz._

Judy sighed. "Do you mind if I take this Nick? It's probably just my parents checking up on me."

"Aww your parents call you to check on one of their 3,218 children? How cuuute."

Judy huffed and would've responded to the cute comment but the phone was probably on the last ring, so taking a deep breath with a smile so fake that even Nick cringed, she tapped "Accept" to the Muzzletime call.

"Ooohhh heeey it's my parents, 'Magine that."

"Hi sweetie." "Hey Jude the Dude. How's it going? Still taking care of all those meters?"

Judy fought so hard to keep her smile plastered on her face that it felt like her cheeks were gonna break. "Yeeaahh, suuuure. And it's... going alright." Thinking quickly, Judy decided she best not tell her parents that, for once, she actually got to do something semi-important. They'd just start worrying.

"But I think Bogo may give me an actual assignment soon." _'Damn it mouth, you traitor.'_ She chided herself. She just couldn't resist the urge to seek affirmation from her parents, even though she knew what the result would be.

"Oh, uh." They looked at each nervously. "Well, would it be dangerous? Cause y'know you could just keep doing what you're doing, where'd you be safe, not actually having to deal with predators and-"

"Dad." Judy sternly cut in before anything was said that he'd regret. Her patience had officially run out. "I'm a _trained_ police officer. I can handle a lot more than just some stupid meters on time limits."

"We know honey," Bonnie said. "But maybe you could just do other important things that don't involve-"

"That don't involve what mom?" Judy challenged, already getting irritated with their overprotective and unsupportive nature. "Dealing with the real world of Zootopia? How many times are we gonna have this conversation? I became a cop to help make the world a better place and I'm _not_ gonna do that by only giving people tickets or sitting at my desk. And before you say it, no, farming is _not_ what I mean."

Getting a little irritated herself, Bonnie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. Stu sat back and nervously looked at his wife. Judy didn't get her fire from him after all. "And would one of the reasons you're so adamant to always 'do more' happen to be that you still haven't gotten your deserved glory?"

Judy stared guffawed at what her mother just said. Had she and Bogo been talking or something?!

Nick's ears perked up a little more. He had admittedly been listening to the conversation, because how could he resist a gold mine of information like this? But now that he heard exactly what he was looking for... He wasn't sure he wanted to know anymore.

While Judy's mother could just be saying things in anger, mothers had an uncanny ability to see things about their children that others could not. Often able to see right through their masks.

Was Judy just after glory? Fame? Was that the ulterior motive behind all of this? Did she want to take down The Surge just to become famous?

"No mom," Judy growled. "It _isn't."_

Judy was about to give a curt goodbye and slam that end call button but her dad spoke up to try and dispel the tension. "So uh, where are you? You just walking home?" It had the desired effect. Both Judy and Bonnie relaxed a bit, the latter looking away with a touch of shame.

After giving Nick a side glance, realizing that they couldn't tell he was there, she tentatively said, "Uh, no actually, I'm just walking around Downtown."

"You are?! I mean... I'm glad you're out and about for once but... did it have to be so late at night? That's when all the _foxes_ are out." Said Stu, worry evident in his voice.

Judy groaned at his ignorance. "Foxes _really_ aren't my concern here dad, there are far bigger and more dangerous threats." ' _Like other predators, not to mention The Surge.'_

"Well, sure... but do you at least still have that bottle of FoxAway I gave you?"

Judy widened her eyes in shock and looked down at her belt. It _WAS_ still there! She never got rid of it! She looked up and locked eyes with Nick, immediately coming up with multiple ways to apologize for not throwing it away earlier. But he just gave her a small smile and shrugged. ' _Don't worry about it. I forgave you already.'_ He silently said.

Judy smiled in return, thankful for the silent message conveyed. "Whatcha lookin' at hun?" Her mother softly inquired, returning to the conversation.

"Oh. Uh, just my friend."

"Oh you're with somebody?!" "Oh oh did you meet a good strong handsome buck?" "Are you guys on a date?" "That would make a lot of sense." "Oh shoot we didn't interrupt it did we?"

Nick couldn't resist speaking up and getting revenge for Judy's little act at the Oasis Springs Resort when she pretended that they were together. "No not at all Mrs. and Mr. Hopps. We're all good. We were just enjoying a lazy stroll through the more colorful part of town."

"Oh my he sounds like such a charmer. Your first real date in the big city and you landed gold." Her mother dreamily said, half wishing Stu took her on dates like that in their youth.

Judy's ears and face suddenly felt really hot as Nick looked down at her with that stupid smug grin of his and her parents were _totally_ _WAY_ off. That's not what this was...at all...Right? "It's not my first date..." Judy weakly mumbled.

"Why don't you let us get a good look at him?" Bonnie pressed, interested to see the buck who finally caught her daughter's attention. Boy would she been in for a surprise.

Judy looked at Nick to see him shaking his head and paws frantically. While Judy _really_ did want to get revenge, that wasn't a good idea.

"Weeelll, he's sorta camera shy. Maybe another time." Lamely lied the cop, hoping it would be enough to deter her parents for now.

"Oh, alright. We'll meet him when you bring him home then." Bonnie said, feeling a bit more disappointed than she should have.

"Yeah..." Judy said. She seriously doubted that would ever happen.

"Well we'll let you get back to your charming date." Bonnie said while looking suggestively at Stu. "Uh right, yeah. And I guess I can rest easy after all, you got someone while you're out there to watch your back from all those predators."

Judy smiled up at Nick. "Yes, actually. I really do."

"Alright, we'll talk to you later Jude."

"Oh one last thing honey." Bonnie added in right before Stu had touched the end call button.

"Yeah?" Judy tentatively said.

"I'm... sorry for what I said earlier bun bun. I just... really worry about you."

Judy softly smiled. "It's alright mom."

"Alright dear, we love you."

"Love you guys too."

With a sigh of relief, glad that the conversation was finally over, Judy pocketed her phone. She loved her parents, she really did, but they could be really arduous to deal with at times. Not to mention the way they embarrass her every time without even trying.

"So you've never been on a date huh?"

Speaking of embarrassment, Nick was still there. She was a fool really, if she thought for even a moment that he wouldn't take the golden chance to tease her after her talk with her parents. Out of both frustration and chagrin she brought her ears in front of her eyes and asked, "Of all the things you just learned, _that's_ what you bring up?"

"Well I can't say that I learned that many new things. Just got some additional background. But I gotta say, I really can't blame you for being afraid of me, or foxes in general when we first met Judy."

Judy stopped walking and looked up at Nick. He called her Judy again... "You were clawed by a bully fox, your parents raised you to be fearful of them, AND society has done its best to make you fear predators in general. And here you are, going on a date with a handsome buck like myself."

"Oh? I don't see one near me. Who could you possibly be talking about?" Judy teased as she looked around for this invisible handsome fellow.

"Augh, my pride. Leave it alone Carrots, it's taken enough beatings from you. You know I would make a _dashing_ buck."

Judy giggled. She had to admit with the absurd notion that _IF_ Nick was a rabbit, which just didn't work in her mind, but _IF_ he was, he would be quite the catch. Maybe she'd even chase after him. Because Judy couldn't deny... even in his natural form, she could see herself falling for him. They were similar in a number of areas, while also balancing each other out in others. It just felt like with the two of them together, they could take on anything. At least for now, they'd make a good pair of friends she decided.

"I'm sure your pride is fine slick Nick. I can't imagine that a small bunny like myself would do any damage to that humongous thing." She teased.

"Well don't sound so disappointed. You wouldn't be the first to fail at getting through this thick skin of mine. It's as good as a rhino's."

"You really don't let anyone get to you, huh?" Judy surmised. She felt slightly put off about that though. Would he... did he never let anyone get close to him? Not like that was a possibility for her anyways but... she was curious.

"That is more or less my motto Carrots. Hasn't let me down so far." While Nick thought he was just confirming the motto that has gotten him this far in life, Judy had taken it an entirely different way. To her, it sounded like he was putting up a wall and pointing at it, saying that she would never get past it.

So taking the supposed hint, she fell silent beside him.

_Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz._

Judy groaned. That better not be her parents. No, she _really hoped_ that wasn't her parents. They no doubt would ask for more juicy details about her "date".

Judy pulled out her phone and stopped in her tracks as she saw what it was. Nick slowed to a stop too. And after a moment or two of her just staring at it passed, he tried to get her attention. "Carrots?"

"It's... it's an amber alert from the CED. A savage attack is happening nearby us."

Nick scowled at the mention of them. He _hated_ the CED, or rather the Collar Enforcement Division. In fact what predator didn't? If the ZPD was corrupt and speciest, then the CED was the devil incarnate. That amber alert Judy just received was a warning sent to all prey to stay away from wherever the attack just happened. But that's another thing, the warning is sent out to _only_ prey.

Not predators. Because why would someone care about a savage predator attacking other predators? It was in their biology after all, predators attack other predators. That was just a fact.

_NO. IT. WASN'T._

And to pour lemon juice in the paper cut, all the savage predators are just sent to a mental asylum. The actual cause was never investigated... assuming of course... there was another explanation apart from the one that was always given. In truth, Nick didn't know how to explain the attacks either. No one did. It's what made them so scary.

Obviously all the prey were constantly fearful of the predators going savage, but what everyone didn't think about was that the predators feared the attacks just as much. Thinking any day for some inexplicable reason, they're just going to get this inexplicable surge of anger inside of them to lash out at anyone near them. Friends, lovers, or even family, they knew it wouldn't matter.

Nick never worried about it too much however, because at least if he went crazy, he wouldn't hurt anyone that he cared about. But now, with Judy by his side...

"Come on. We're going to that address. It's only a couple blocks away." Judy said and without even waiting for Nick, she started running down the street.

Quickly catching up to her, Nick asked as they ran. "And what do you hope to do?"

"Just help in any way I can. Maybe find out more about these attacks. I've never even read a case about them but I do know that the CED is absolutely callous towards you guys."

"And what about the savage?"

Judy didn't respond. Lovely. Didn't he _just_ talk to her about jumping into situations head first? Now look. He was jumping right in with her without a doubt! Nick just had to hope it wasn't a lion, tiger or a bear that went savage.

It couldn't have been more obvious when they were close to the site of the attack. There were growls, screams, and yells of pain. All sounds that really encouraged Nick to _NOT_ be there, but Judy kept running, so he did too.

Coming quickly to the end of the street they were in, they turned towards the sounds of commotion, venturing even deeper in the residential part of downtown. It was the most populated part of the district, with tall apartment's buildings at both sides, aimed at both pred and prey. Anyone short of a mouse or elephant could find a home in this part of town, and thanks to the moderate prices for rent most mammals did just that.

As they came closer and closer to the sounds, both Nick and Judy stopped in front of a side street, to observe the situation. Nick's advice had echoed through her head the moment she broke into a run, but she figured that wasn't the time to stop and think. But now that she saw what was going on, it was definitely time to not be stupid.

A long white and slick looking limousine sat parked on the street along the lines of several apartments. It was pretty nice looking and... Was still idling? The driver clearly left it on for some reason. It wasn't in the best of shape now, one of the doors was open with the window smashed, claw marks all over the side of the car. Nick could tell it also needed a tune-up as the third cylinder wasn't firing.

And then there was the driver. Or...what was assumed to be the driver. A black jaguar wearing a tuxedo was rolling around on the street desperately hanging onto a horse with all of his claws as the prey tried to fight him off. Said jaguar was snarling and swiping with his claws fully extended but the horse was doing a decent job of keeping him away from anything vital, his clothes however were getting shredded.

Then for just a moment, the jaguar managed to pin the horse flat on his back. He was about to go for a killing blow when, to the foggy mend of the predator at least, he got hit on the side by what felt like a miniature car.

The enraged jaguar went flying and rolled on the unforgiving concrete sidewalk for several feet. If he wasn't mad already, now he was positively _pissed_. He _just_ managed to subdue that damned feisty stallion. What _dared_ to interrupt his dinner?! Snapping back onto all fours, with murder in his eyes he roared in anger at the disturbance.

Instead of a more powerful animal like he expected it to be, instead it was just a female grey bunny! _Prey._ An even easier target to boot. But what more, there was a male fox near her and they both were keeping their eyes on him while guarding his meal.

As Nick and Judy stood in front of the dazed and mauled stallion, they both came face to face with one of their greatest fears. A _very_ savage predator, and one that neither would be able to defend themselves against very well.

Curiously they both noted that the jaguar's pupils were now slits instead of the usual circles, with his right eye swelling shut. No doubt from one of the frantic kicks of his prey. And what was once a pristine and possibly tailored tuxedo, was now tattered and wet, and loosely hanging from his body; almost like he just survived a shipwreck.

' _Wait.'_ The gears in Nick's mind began to turn. Connections were being made, synapses fired. He recognized this predator. He knew everyone after all. "Mr. Manchas." Nick quietly murmured. A chauffeur for Tundratown's Limo Service. But where or why did Nick meet this guy?

His collar was also showing a red light, something that neither had ever witnessed but Nick of course knew what it signaled. It was a safety measure about the collars that was placed when the savage attacks were still happening even after the collars were introduced. [The manufacturers discovered that] it would likely be fatal if the collar was constantly shocking a predator who went savage. So in order to avoid that, the collars temporarily deactivate whenever the signs of a true savage are shown. And no, no one has been able to fake being savage in order to get it to turn red, all they managed to get were several painful shocks as they pretended to be savage.

Manchas was now pacing back and forth as his feral mind assessed the threat level of the odd pair. "Plan Judy?" Nick whispered while not breaking eye contact with the savage predator.

"Uh... keep him away from the horse ... and... don't die."

Nick nodded. "Ok, good plan. And how we gonna do that?"

"Don't know." She admitted.

' _Great.'_ He thought.

Scanning his surroundings Nick saw many mammals, both prey and predator, peeking out their windows or from behind their cars. ' _Ruttin'_ _cowards,'_ Nick cursed.

"One of you cowards get this guy out of here!" Nick yelled as he pointed at the dazed horse who, now that he thought about it, was probably in shock.

Surprisingly after a moment, Nick saw the door of an apartment building on the other side of the road open and out came a couple of wildebeests. As they approached, the jaguar growled even louder and all heads turned back to him. The wildebeests stopped in their tracks at the threat and almost turned back. "No no no. Come on, get over here and help me get him up. I think he's in shock."

As the fox and the wildebeests worked together to get the horse away from the scene, Nick got a full view of all the damage the poor stallion sustained. While no scratch or gash was lethal, his chest was covered in them and quite bloodied up. But the worst damage was on one of his legs. Like a standard predatorily technique, the jaguar looked to have gone for the legs to keep a hold of his prey and they looked pretty mangled. It was a good thing they arrived when they did though, or his fate would've been far worse.

While Nick was asserting the damage dealt to the horse, Manchas started to snarl even louder, clearly unhappy about his dinner leaving his reach. So to buy Nick and the others time, Judy aimed her tranquilizer gun at him. Which he _really_ wasn't happy about. How dare such a diminutive creature try its luck against him! At least the horse was a fair fight.

The jaguar wiggled his behind in preparation to pounce. Then with a snarl, the jaguar charged and just as he leaped forward, Judy daringly ran forward as well and slid under him while shooting the dart into his belly.

As the feline landed, his legs waned in their strength causing him to sway a little and he struggled to keep standing because of whatever that _insolent_ rabbit just did. After a shake of his head, he turned and roared at her furiously.

"Carrots!" Nick yelled out as he returned to the scene, the horse now safely with the wildebeest in their apartment. He was now behind Manchas, while Judy remained locked in the jaguars' sights.

"I only have one tranquilizer dart, Nick." She called out. "I've never had to use it and never thought to pack more than one shot."

' _Uh oh_ ,' he thought. ' _Now what?_ 'They're separated and whichever one Manchas goes after won't be able to defend themselves too well.

The feline was now between a surprisingly formidable rabbit and a fox who just deprived him of his spoils. So the jaguar turned to the fox and snarled. Nick wasn't expecting that and reflexively took a step back. But then another instinct kicked in; the desire to protect. He wasn't leaving Judy.

Without even thinking about it, Nick's hackles rose, claws were extended and he bared his teeth and snapped at the much larger predator. The jaguar hissed even louder in response. Still unsure of its own decision, the jaguar turned its back to the fox and started to prowl towards Judy.

Not having any of that, Nick lowered himself to all four paws and charged at the predator. Hearing him coming by a longshot the jaguar whipped around and warned the stupid canine to stay back. Nick skidded to a stop and let out the angriest growl he had ever heard himself make.

Every predator certainly has their own unique sounds and growls that speak different messages. They're usually more easily distinguishable between animals of the same species, but the jaguar got the message of _that_ growl quite clearly. Territorial, protective. Which was odd. There were no other foxes around here. But challenge accepted.

The jaguar took a small step forward and wiggled its behind as he prepared to pounce. Nick noticed and crouched down low as well, preparing to dodge out of the way and then counter-attack. While he paid it no heed, he felt the collar around his neck _humm_ in warning, the little light changing to yellow.

Then just as Manchas leapt from his hind legs, both predators heard the clinking of metal around one thing, then another. Instead of going anywhere, the jaguar swiped at nothing as his jump entirely failed and he face planted into the concrete.

Confused but relieved, Nick stood up to look behind the jaguar and saw Judy staring at the both of them. But what more, there was a cuff around the lamppost she was standing next to and a chain leading from it to a hind paw of the jaguar.

The dazed jaguar slowly recovered and still tried to charge at Nick but the chain kept him well at bay. Walking widely around, Judy and Nick regrouped and numbly observed the savage predator who was still trying to get at the both of them. Furious that not only had a fox won against him, he couldn't get a horse nor a tiny bunny.

"Thanks for that." Nick quietly said. He felt kinda stupid now for challenging the jaguar. He most surely would've lost that battle. But in the moment there didn't seem to be a better option and it just felt natural. Which discomforted Nick, he'd never felt like that before.

Judy was lost in thought as well. She'd never personally seen a savage predator and now that he was subdued under a lamppost, she was able to get a good look at him. Her ears perked as they finally heard sirens approaching. Now that the fight was over, mammals started to come out of their hiding places and homes.

Several CED vehicles, including the paramedics, skidded around the corner and lit the dark street up with their red and blue lights. Once they all stopped. A bunch of officers wearing full body armor and carrying various equipment piled out of the back of one of the vans. All the pair could do for now was stand and watch as they subdued the jaguar while injecting something into his neck that knocked him out.

In the distance Nick watched as they brought the horse out of the wildebeest's apartment on a stretcher and loaded him into the back of the emergency vehicle.

"The jaguar's name was Mr. Manchas... by the way. I knew him." Nick softly supplied as they watched the officers restrain his paws and put a muzzle on his maw. Nick _hated_ muzzles...

Judy nodded, of course he did. "Nick, what happens to the predators who go savage? Where do they go?"

"I'm not sure. I think a mental institution where they usually stay for a number of years before they're proven to be fine and then released. But they never do come back the same."

"But they don't stay this way, right? They return to normal at some point."

"At some point." Nick confirmed. "But who knows how long that takes. Whatever institution they go has never released any studies informing the public about them."

' _Maybe it's not just mental. And we'll never know if he isn't properly examined.'_ Judy thought as she watched the officers load the jaguar into the back of the van... which would lead him to a place that would change him forever... a place that would only treat him as an insane individual who tried to kill others.

' _A place he isn't going to go,_ ' Judy adamantly decided.

Lightly tugging on Nick's arm to get his attention, Judy waved him to follow her, before marching forward and ducking under the police tape that was just stretched out a minute ago. One of the officers immediately took notice, a zebra in full body gear and a mask. "Ma'am you're not allowed-"

"I'm Judy Hopps of the ZPD." Judy recited as she flashed her badge for a short enough time that he wouldn't get a good look at it. "And this is my partner Nick Wilde." Nick looked down at her in shock but then quickly looked back at the zebra and took a more professional posture as the zebra skeptically observed him. "We need to talk to your commander about what happened here. Or would you like to explain to me yourself why we weren't questioned when we-"

"Ok ok," he relented, waving her down. He could already tell this bunny was gonna be quite a hassle. "Follow me."

He led them to the back of the van where the officers were just finishing up loading the knocked out jaguar into a cage. Something that bristled both Nick and Judy's fur.

"Commander." The zebra called into the van. A pig with a tuft of blond hair stood up and looked towards them. "We got two ZPD's here. They want to talk to you." With an overdramatic sigh of exasperation, the female pig stepped out of the van. She was wearing what looked to Judy like a black version of her own formal blues but with the rank of commander striped onto her arm.

"Ah so _you're_ the two meddlers we kept hearing about as calls poured in about this attack. Well that explains who'd be stupid enough to face a savage jaguar without any gear." The female pig chided as she scrutinized the pair and crossed her arms. "In case you're unaware Officers _cute-lil-bunny_ and _shifty-looking-fox,_ which, by the way, how the HELL did you manage to become an Officer?"

Nick opened his mouth to respond but she cut him off. "Nevermind, you're not worth my time. As I was saying, you must be aware Officer _Bunny_ that this is strictly CED business and-"

"Actually this is the business of all of Zootopia you ignorant swine." Judy interrupted, having heard more than enough out of her. The pig snorted and glared at her for using such a derogative term. "And for the record my name is _Detective Hopps_ and this is my partner _Detective_ _Wilde_. Before you and your incredibly incompetent team mess up anything else, we'd like to know what you're going to do with Mr. Manchas."

"'Incompetent team' you say? You should keep your pathetically tiny mouth in check. Our response time-"

"Was fifteen to twenty minutes _at the_ _least_ , ma'am." Nick finally spoke up with his own arms crossed and glaring at the bitch who just made _several_ insults and blunders towards Judy. "Not only is the CED primary building maybe a ten minute drive from here _with_ traffic and hitting _every single_ red light, the ZPD's is _far_ better than that. So yes, incompetent fits quite nicely."

The female swine looked like she was about to burst with anger. ' _She looks so boiling red she could cook something on her forehead.'_ Nick thought with a doubly smug smile.

"So I ask again." Judy continued. " _Where_ are you taking him?"

Looking back to the bunny who was only up to her own shoulders, she grumbled. "To Cliffside Asylum. Where all the other savages go for treatment."

"That's what I thought. So no, that is not where this one will be going."

The other officers around the trio were doing their best not to eavesdrop while they did their work, but when that was said, they all didn't even bother to fake it anymore and stopped to watch and listen.

It was now deathly silent. The only sound being those of any distant cars driving down the road to their destination. The officers looked between their commander who was known for her no-nonsense attitude and almost unprofessional hatred of predators, and the duo of, what were apparently, ZPD _Detectives._

All the bystanders who had witnessed the attack, which consisted of mostly prey but a few predators as well, were listening in too. The predators were of course particularly interested as they were well aware of the callous attitude of the CED.

Finally the pig spoke. "I beg your pardon? On whose authority-"

"Mine. And indirectly the ZPD's and therefore Chief Bogo's." Judy quickly supplied.

"Oh yeah? Since when does the ZPD have a right to stick their noses into _our_ business?" The pig was running out of tricks here and was sincerely hoping the bunny was bluffing so she could call her out on it.

"Since the Dual Protection Pact between the CED and the ZPD. In particular Section 3.4.16 midway through paragraph 2. Which reads: 'Should any ZPD personnel with ranking of detective or higher deem interference necessary, they will have the authority to temporarily seize control of a CED operation.'"

"We should all be concerned with _why_ this mammal turned savage, and a proper investigation should take place." The CED commander tried to interject, but Judy didn't give her the chance, "So here's what's gonna happen: _you're_ gonna take over there to the same hospital the horse was sent to, so he may receive proper medical attention, and let the doctor discern any possible cause for the savage outburst."

The pig scoffed and shook her head in denial. There was no way... "This savage here doesn't need proper medical care. He's just a predator who went crazy like the rest of 'em."

"I do not care what your personal opinions are on predators, and frankly they do not matter. Take your issues with them and _shove them up your tail_! Or you take this up with Chief Bogo yourself."

The commander was sweating now as she sputtered and tried to think of another argument to make. This bunny was making a fool of her in front of her troops. And this was all so highly irregular, the ZPD _never_ stuck their noses in CED business. And the ZPD now had a _FOX_ as a detective? What had Bogo been smoking?! Either way, she really didn't want to deal with an annoyed Chief Bogo.

With a final icy glare, she begrudgingly gave the word to her fellow officers to bring the jaguar to the hospital instead. Once they finished securing him, they closed the back doors and the pig commander had just opened the passenger door to get in when Judy spoke up again.

"Oh and Commander _Swine_ , one more thing."

The pig slowly turned her gaze back to the rabbit who was still standing next to the fox, both with their arms crossed, both far too amused and smug for her liking. Wait a sec... How did she only just now notice the fox was entirely in civilian clothes and not wearing a badge? Were they off duty? Undercover perhaps?

"If you'd be so kind to give us a ride to the hospital. We need to make sure you do what you're told after all." Judy struggled to not snicker as she gave her final piece of sass. Nick coughed a couple times into his fist while turning slightly to the side.

Not bothering to fight this time, she barked out, "Marty!" The zebra who Judy talked to earlier appeared. "Bring these two ins-... ergh, drop these two off at Zootopia Central. Just use the cruiser."

With a final sneer to the two mammals that held the new title of 'despised the most', she slammed the door shut and soon the van drove off. The sparse amount of bystanders that were listening in earlier slowly dispersed now that the show was over. Most of the predators still couldn't believe what they heard, but they sure wouldn't forget it.

"If you'll follow me Detectives." Marty the zebra said, sounding surprisingly decent.

As he led them to a standard looking black sedan, Nick leaned over and whispered. "Dang Carrots no wonder you were the valedictorian. Being able to throw the book at her like that on the whim is truly impressive."

"Actually... uh, heh." She shyly whispered as they entered the car, both of them sitting more towards the middle of the seat so they could continue to talk without attracting the zebra's attention, the fact that they were closer to each other than normal was just an added bonus for the pair. "That... was actually... entirely a bluff."

Nick couldn't believe what he just heard. His mouth hung slightly open as he looked down to his left at her in a mix of shock and praise. "That was..." He paused as Marty got in and started to drive. Once they got up to speed and there was enough ambient noise, he continued. "That was all a bluff?"

Judy humbly shrugged. "More like a gamble on the balance of probability. I knew that she wouldn't have such a specific knowledge of the material and definitely wouldn't want to go against Chief Bogo."

"...but if she called out either one. If she actually brought that to Bogo."

"Which she won't."

"Which she won't." He agreed. "But if she did...?"

"Then I'd be in big trouble. As far as I'm aware the two are nearly entirely separate. I think the ZPD can only overpower the CED if they interfere with a case or something. There were a ton of grey areas and technicalities that didn't stay in my head long after the test."

Neither noticed, but up front one of the zebra's ears twitched.

"Oh, and fun fact." Judy continued. "I actually did the same thing when those predators came after you. There was no way I could've actually arrested them. Looking for reasons would be illegal, and even if there was one, Bogo would never let that happen and would've just given them a warning, then fired me."

Nick's mind was getting blown by this rabbit. Not only was that entire situation one of the biggest hustles he had ever known or been a part of, she pulled a similar trick when they first met! "...you are one _CLEVER_ bunny." Nick admitted.

Judy smiled and looked up at Nick in thanks, who returned the smile whole heartedly. Not being able to resist, Judy scooted over a little more and nuzzled his arm with a content exhale, finally resting her eyes. Nick was a bit taken aback by the affection but wrapped his arm around her nonetheless and brought her in a little closer for a semi-hug. She didn't mind the least and Nick's smile only grew.

But he had to remember, he hadn't even known her for 24 hours yet, and when he challenged Manchas, which was still admittedly a stupid move, it only was because he felt the urge to protect her. Everything was moving too fast, and he didn't like it. There were still too many things he didn't know about her to be feeling like that. Like the 'hunting for glory' her mother mentioned. Nick's smile faltered as these thoughts plagued his mind and chased away the affection he was feeling a moment ago.

But up front, the pseudo chauffeur's grin felt like it was gonna split his face.

* * *

One quiet and short drive later, they arrived at Zootopia central and bid the surprisingly polite zebra farewell. Since it was now, officially (according to Nick) late at night, the hospital wasn't bustling with activity. But as Judy pointed out, mammals don't only get injured and sick during daylight.

Approaching the small-to-medium height mammal portion of the receptionist desk, Judy rang the bell and heard the wheels of an office chair as it slid over with a doe on it. Immediately her eyes flew to Nick and she nervously locked her eyes onto Judy. The fox had to resist the urge to roll his own eyes.

"I'm... here to see a Mr. Manchas who should've just been admitted. I think a stallion was as well whom we also need to see." Judy timidly said. Never having visited a hospital and not knowing the procedure to visit someone.

"Name?" The doe inquired as she accessed the computer to look for the patient's room numbers and status.

"Uh, Officer Judy Hopps."

"Oh, I thought I recognized you." The doe said as she lit back up. "Well I'm sorry to tell you Ms. Hopps that neither are able to be visited right now, even for friends and family. Mr. Manchas is under evaluation and having multiple tests done and the stallion you mentioned is still in the ER and may have to undergo surgery on one of his legs."

Judy deflated with a defeated _oh_ and Nick looked at her sympathetically. Nick then softly spoke up so to not frighten the clearly over-jumpy doe. "Do you think we'd be able to talk to a doctor about Mr. Manchas sometime soon?"

The receptionist shakily made eye contact with the fox. "Well... there's no guarantee and I'm far from an expert but I don't think that should take too long. I could put in a request to meet the doctor?"

"That'd be great. Thank you." Nick kindly said, doing his best to smile genuinely to make her feel more at ease. It seemed to work as she relaxed a little bit and nodded.

"Ok. I'll do that. And in the meantime you guys could wait in the lobby or you could enter your numbers and we'll send you a text alert."

"We'll wait here. We need to know ASAP." Judy said. The receptionist just nodded and went back to work, so they took their leave.

As they walked into the waiting area, they weren't surprised to see a few other prey waiting on the couch or chairs. There were also various kids toys and books still scattered about to keep the children busy while the parents nervously waited for news on their loved ones.

Not having a better idea both Nick and Judy sat down on the far end of a couch. At the other end sat an elderly female antelope that clearly _did not_ approve of their presence, lowering her glasses every couple seconds to give them another scowl. In fact all the other mammals present were giving them scathing or disapproving looks.

But for once neither cared and either gave them challenging looks in return or ignored them. Eventually they stopped, or in a couple cases to the pair's joy, they got up and left. A late night radio quietly played above them.

_One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble_

_Not much between despair and ecstasy_

_One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble_

_Can't be too careful with your company_

_I can feel the devil sitting next to me_

"Y'know... at least among the predator community, there are dozens of conspiracy theories that explain these attacks." Nick said after an unknown amount of time. Judy looked over at him curiously, encouraging him to continue.

"I don't know how much you know about these attacks, but they almost never make sense. They're always regular predators, peaceful ones, mammals with jobs and families. Of course the odd mammal actually had some dirt on them, but don't we all?"

Judy solemnly nodded. "I've almost never heard anything about them. If they even make it to the ZPD I haven't heard of them in the workplace. Granted I've only been a meter maid this entire time."

"Well I'll tell you right now, the ZPD doesn't care. That's why the CED exists. Everyone just shrugs it off saying it is just predators being predators. But I've known mammals who knew the one who went savage _many_ times. And they almost always say it was out of character and unexpected."

"Hence all the theories." Judy finished for him. "What are some of them?"

"Well, some are ludicrous even for my standards."

"Wow that must take a lot." She lightly teased, hoping to add at least a little levity to the situation. Thankfully it worked and the corner of his pointed muzzle twitched upwards into a small smile. It was a very welcome sight.

"Anyways," he said with a chuckle. "The one I think makes the most sense is that there's some kind of device in our collars that injects something that causes us to go temporarily insane, and that this was snuck into the TAME system and is controlled by some terrorist group or bunches of criminals."

"Huh." Judy blankly said. "That's... quite the conspiracy theory."

"Heh, trust me Carrots, there are far worse. That's a much more... _tame_ one." Nick said with a suggestive look. Judy sent him a crooked grin and a hollow laugh at the pun. "But I've tested that myself and I couldn't see any evidence of something being injected. No needles in my collar either."

Judy again just nodded. Her eyelids were starting to feel quite heavy and her head started to droop. Understandably so, it had been a _long_ day.

"Gettin' sleepy Carrots?" Nick suddenly said. Judy nodded her head for a third time, then leaned back into the couch and rested her head on Nick.

"A _lot_ has happened today Nick." Judy just barely coherently spoke. "Just think, around twelve hours ago, I only knew you as that-one-fox. I can't believe so much can happen within such a small span of time. Someone up there must have a sick sense of humor."

"No doubt about that." Nick added.

Judy didn't say it, but her tired mind was telling her that right now, she felt more comfortable and closer to this fox than she had around any of her friends in the past. When she thought of the acquaintances or mammals that could barely pass as friends back in High School, or even the academy, none of them came close to how she felt about Nick right now.

Judy's head started to slide down and off his arm. She would have no problem... _closer_... falling asleep... _her neck's muscles were losing interest in holding her head up_... in this predator's lap. With a final soft thud the last muscles of her neck conceded to gravity and the rabbit was fully resting on the lap of her vulpine companion. Within a second, she was out cold, and said predator didn't mind in the slightest. In fact he was, again, quite touched that she felt so comfortable around him.

' _Slow down Nick,'_ he scolded himself once more. ' _Like she said, it has only been 12 hours. But like she also said, a lot has happened. Dark times bring mammals closer together and all that jazz…_ '

Nick tried to muster a glare to push those feelings further away but failed miserably and instead smiled at his friend's peacefully sleeping form. Yeah... friend. He could admit that much for now.

Nick let his head rest against the soft couch behind him. As he let his eyelids close, 'just to let them rest for a moment' he told himself, another part of his own mind teased him. ' _That's one damn good friend if you care about her that much._ ' He softly exhaled at his own humor.

Whatever. He'd deal with that problem later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Like it, don't? Thoughts on the conspiracy? Feedback is the best and is the best way to get me to pump chapters out sooner if you're impatient about that.


	8. Just What I Needed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well look who's back from the grave! You can thank my editor uomoape for that and his messages of "u ded m8?" XD In short, if you care (if you don't skip this all), I've been occupied by college and the accompanied stress. If you value your sanity, do yourself a favor and never take Engineering Physics along with any other classes. Or just don't take it if you can avoid it lol.
> 
> Anyways look, a new chapter! And on the verge of being 10k words too... Sheesh. I even did my best to make things quick which may have resulted in some areas feeling a little rushed, but I think I got it all right. And now that it's Summer chapters should come much more frequently. At a maximum two per month like... I think it was March I got two out in the same month. I was so proud! XD
> 
> Anyways. Hope you enjoy! Tell me what ya think! :)
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Zootopia, just this story and the OC's. Oh, also don't own any other Disney, Pixar, or any other film characters that I reference.

' _My groove is_ ruined _!_ ' thought Doctor Kuzco.

The black and red llama dressed in a white coat grumbled under his breath as he stomped down the hallway. He felt so frustrated right now that he could throw somebody out a window. He actually even _considered_ the old goat with a crane to be his victim but quickly discarded it. He would surely get in huge trouble and didn't need this night going any worse than it already was.

Graveyard shifts were what he usually worked so that was nothing new. What _was_ new however was having to physiologically evaluate one of those disgusting "savage predators". He didn't hate predators, he didn't even dislike them. They were just below him and not worth his time. Or so he told himself.

But the patient's species wasn't what really ticked him off.

It was since the patient was a predator that meant he had to cross paths with a certain tapir. Specifically one named Pacha. Who then of course proceeded to point out how little Kuzco knew about predators and made a fool of him in front of other staff members.

His groove was going to be ruined for the rest of his shift for sure all because of that stupid _panthera onca's_ fault. See? He did too know those Latin names; the knowledge was just... really dusty as he hasn't used it since college.

' _Not only did that damned jaguar have to go and maul a stallion, but he also went and ruined my_ night _!_ ' Kuzco thought bitterly. And the biggest plot twist out of all this was that the stallion actually _defended_ the jaguar while he was briefly awake after the surgery. He was belligerently insisting that they were friends and there was no way he would do something like that in his right mind. To say it provoked uproar within the staff would be an understatement.

' _Well that sure proved that fool wrong_ ,' Kuzco halted in his tracks at the thought. Wait... which was the fool? ' _Eh, both,_ 'he resolutely decided as he kept on walking. ' _Spirit for trusting Manchas and Manchas for…_ ' Kuzco stopped again.

' _For what?'_ his mind echoed. For trying to be a friend with a prey… Or was he? Why _would_ Manchas maul him? Maybe there were some underlying anger or jealousy issues between them. An ulterior reason perhaps...? But what?

"Dr. Kuzco?" he turned in the direction of the voice to see one of the receptionists, a young and pretty light brown doe. Wasn't she dating Bambi? "You must not have gotten my message. Judy Hopps from the ZPD is waiting in the lobby to see you."

_Oh great, just what I needed._ Kuzco thought in exasperation. He politely nodded to her and headed out to the lobby. What interest did _she_ have in a savage predator, or the ZPD for that matter? As far as he was aware, they've never bothered to investigate these savages since that was always the CED's business.

Before he walked through the doors to the lobby, Kuzco mentally prepared himself and took a large breath as he pushed open the doors. He wasn't surprised that the lobby was still mostly empty; the bars had just closed a bit ago so it'd take a while for them to get any action.

Kuzco frowned when he didn't immediately see her and wondered if she already left or something. He figured an awaiting cop would've pounced on him as soon as he walked through the doors. ' _Just like all the ladies do,'_ he smugly reminded himself.

' _Not really...'_ A far quieter voice countered.

With another displeased grumble for the night he started looking through the lobby for the one who wanted to see him. When Kuzco finally found who he was looking for on the couch in the kids' area, his jaw hit the floor.

On the edge of one of the couches slept a red fox wearing a hideous combo of a green Pawaiian shirt and an even worse colored tie that he clearly needed to learn how to tie. But that wasn't what shocked him. It was the fact that in the foxes lap was the infamous Judy Hopps very much asleep.

She looked very relaxed and content with where she was too. Even with one of the foxes arms draped over her. What made the image more unsettling (to him) was the foxes' head was leaned back into the couch with his mouth hanging open, showing off his ivory fangs. Kuzco suppressed a shiver at the sight and returned his gaze to the sleeping bunny in her natural enemy's lap.

If they were indeed enemies there was no way this could have happened. So they _must_ therefore be... friends. Just like Spirit and Manchas, but this was even more extreme. A horse didn't necessarily have a natural predator but a bunny sure did. What more, they were male and female to boot! ' _Oh man... imagine if they were... Ew no,'_ Kuzco shook his head of such revolting thoughts.

He took a couple steps forward and was unsure on how to wake them. Probably just because he didn't know what happens when you wake up a predator. Do they lash out at you in anger? Do they reflexively... Try to claw you or something?

Or did he continue to hesitate because he just didn't want to disturb the peaceful setting?

Finally he loudly cleared his throat and planned to loudly speak too, but it came out much softer than intended. "You requested to see me, Officer Hopps?" the pair simply stirred and the bunny even snuggled a bit closer to the fox. Kuzco's lips twitched into a small smile.

"Officer Hopps." He said a bit louder this time, almost reaching the usual volume of his voice.

"Hmmm..?" came her sleep riddled voice with a small crack of her eyes. As soon as they caught the image of a doctor's coat they snapped open and she bolted upright.

"Oh, Doctor! Uh, good to see you. Thanks for meeting u-" she cut herself off and turned to the fox before jabbing him in the side with a finger.

"Wake up Nick," she hissed. The fox, Nick, didn't respond.

She was about to jab him harder when Kuzco apprehensively spoke up. "Y'know, his presence really isn't necces-," but the glare that small bunny with piercing amethyst eyes sent him shut him up faster than anyone ever had.

Judy did _NOT_ want to listen to any of that crap and just to make him wither under her gaze, she kept it on him until he broke eye contact with a cough and found something on his clipboard to be interesting.

With a satisfied smirk she turned back to Nick and her glare insta-melted. He looked so... _peaceful..._ So relaxed that she desperately wanted to let him sleep more, and maybe even join him. His lap was almost as alluring as her own bed even though she felt wide awake, for the moment at least.

' _What a weird thought_ ,' she reflected.

She shook her head, now wasn't the time to wonder why her friend's lap looked alluring. She had to wake him up. The sooner they talked with the doctor, the sooner they could go back to the investigation.

Judy poked Nick in the side again, a little more firmly this time, but no reaction was given once more. So instead she tried to gently shake him, but alas no success. He was sleeping like a rock. But she didn't become who she was today by giving up at the first obstacle and tried yet another approach, pinching his forearm. Again, the fox gave no visible reaction.

Okay this was getting annoying. There was no way in hell he wouldn't wake up after all this prodding and poking so she focused on his breathing. It was slow and methodical, but shallow and arrhythmic. His muzzle was also more out of view than it was before, like he was hiding a grin. ' _So we're playing_ this _game now, huh?_ ' thought Judy before looking at Kuzco, who was still very focused on his clipboard. With a devilish smirk on her face, she slugged Nick right on the shoulder with a little more force than intended.

"Ooowwww," Nick said as he finally opened his eyes and looked over at Judy. "Geez Carrots what was that fo-"

"The Doctor arrived," she interrupted.

Nick turned sleepily but curiously to look at said doctor. Nick immediately recognized him and frowned. "Doctor Kuzco," Nick said with a bitter tone. Kuzco looked up at his name and fought the apprehensive feeling at the look he was receiving, but this was his territory, not the fox's.

"You know me?"

"I know everyone. But more importantly I know your reputation," Nick said with a yawn as he stretched out his arms. He also extended his claws and opened his maw far wider than would be necessary for a yawn. Judy just casually avoided the outstretched paw and nearly busted out laughing when she made the connection that Nick was doing the same thing he did to her to Kuzco. "So with that in mind what took you so long?" Nick said with his eyes half lidded and looking up at the llama like he was bored.

"Speaking of, what time _IS_ it Doctor?" Judy added in.

"It's just after 2 A.M. But getting to the matter at hand. I was only now told that you had wanted to see me and as you are obviously unrelated to both the victim and the savage I-"

"Doctor Kuzco I am going to stop you right there, they are _both_ victims. Are we clear? Mr. Manchas and the stallion he attacked," Judy pressed.

"And on what ground do you make that conjecture Ms. Hopps? Are you aware of something we are not? Do you know of toxins in Mr. Manchas' system that our toxicologist did not find?"

Judy opened her mouth to try to think of a counter but couldn't come up with anything. Clearly sounding more powerful than she actually was wasn't going to work this time. Before she could conjure up a response Nick spoke up. "Will you take us to the toxicologist? We'd like to speak to him in person."

Kuzco turned to address him. "I would have no problem taking Ms. Hopps, but you are a citizen and have no reason to be there as well."

"He's my partner," Judy tried.

"Is he?" Kuzco challenged with a skeptical glance to both of them. "If that were the case then where's his uniform or badge?"

"He was undercover at the time when we started on this case," Judy quickly supplied but started to become worried he might be too smart for that ploy.

"Then by protocol and by right I request to see the fox's badge."

Nick and Judy both looked worriedly at each other and Kuzco simply observed them, looking back and forth between the two. Then he leaned down with his awkwardly long neck and spoke lowly and with a surprisingly intimidating tone. ' _Must have something to do with his long face._ ' Nick's mind managed to quip even as he leaned back a little.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here Ms. Hopps and assume you have no ill intentions and not report the two of you for impersonating an officer and likely breaking dozens of other rules. But let me make it clear to you that I am _tired_ of blueberries and blackberries, dirty or not, coming in here and thinking I or any of my colleagues are a bunch of nincompoops."

Judy's mind was running a mile a second at what was just insinuated and for being caught. ' _Other cops have been coming in here on false pretenses?_ ' Judy was fully aware of her madly twitching nose (something Kuzco thought was quite cute), but was much more concerned about the situation they were in. "As there is likely no case here at all, Officer Judy Hopps, what _IS_ your purpose here?"

"Are you aware that the savage attacks that have been happening for years have never been looked into, Doctor?" chimed Nick, taking charge of the conversation after he saw Judy flounder.

"That is also incorrect. They are always 'looked into' at Cliffside Asylum. Why Mr. Manchas was sent here is beyond me but I suspect you had something to do with that Ms. Hopps."

"And what, pray tell Doctor, is revealed by their 'looking into' at Cliffside Asylum?" Nick said getting rather irritated with this pompous llama. "That every single one of the predators were mentally insane? Mammals that, _IF_ anyone ever cared enough to look into their background, everyone that knew them would've said were completely normal."

"If you and your colleagues aren't nincompoops, go ahead and tell me with a straight face that isn't the least bit conspicuous. Surely if you are as smart as you always claim to be, something along those lines have caught your attention before."

Judy quickly caught onto what game Nick was playing and continued before he could retort. "Doctor, just imagine if we were to find out something about Mr. Manchas and it got the press' attention. Ultimately, it would lead back to you and how you noticed that something was up and let us investigate," Kuzco evaluated the idea in his mind, and looked lost in thought for a moment. Judy smirked seeing that it was working. Nick might be a bad influence on her...

"You'd be a hero…," Nick said, adding a cherry on top of all the sugary bullshit they just fed him.

Kuzco slightly opened his mouth to respond but this was a double edged sword. He wanted to make the point crystal clear that he was intelligent, but if he did so, he'd also be admitting to... Admitting to shrugging off the questionable logic of the savage attacks. Something that a mammal of his intelligence level had indeed noticed ages ago, but it was so tightly woven into the current society that putting pressure on a suspected crack could have some disturbingly large consequences.

Kuzco looked out the front entrance with a _hmph_ as he weighed his options. Now he was being faced with a choice. He could stop a possible rogue cop and a random fox from investigating this crack. Or could make himself look like the hero that had the guts to take a stand. His ego tingled.

"Follow me," Kuzco gruffly said after making up his mind.

They both started to follow him but he stopped after a few steps and abruptly turned around. "Not you Mr. Wilde. I understand that the two of you are connected and you'd prefer for him to be with you Ms. Hopps, but if you want my help, he stays. It'd be far too conspicuous for a fox in civilian clothes to walk through the staff area of the hospital, and I'm risking enough as it is."

Judy wanted to protest, but had to agree with his logic, and they were already pushing their luck as it was. So with a sigh she relented and nodded to Nick. He nodded back and watched them go with paws in his pockets.

After walking behind the llama aimlessly through a number of halls and only really looking at the distastefully white walls and ugly linoleum of the floor, the pair walked into a separate room that Judy could only surmise was where the science happened. Judy didn't notice anything unusual about the room but the way Kuzco stopped and looked at the pair talking in the center of it told her something was up.

The room was a lot more stuffed than she expected. Dim fluorescent lights were illuminating the space, long tables with a myriad of technical equipment, ampoules, vials and a number of computer screens sitting on top were positioned along all of the walls. A larger and less occupied table was dead in the middle of the room. Seated at said table was a brown squirrel also wearing a lab coat and talking to someone that after a moment of staring at him, she recognized!It was Meryl Moliere, the lead forensic scientist at the ZPD. Since she's never been on a real case she hasn't interacted with him much but from what she's heard about the French mole, he was rather... odd. More importantly though... what was he doing here?

"Moliere?" Kuzco said with surprise evident in his voice. "What're you doing here?"

Breaking off from his conversation with the squirrel, Moliere made eye contact with Judy who would have felt nervous about the encounter with another ZPD member, if not for the fact that his presence here was just as questionable as her own. Looking up at Kuzco he responded. "Oh, Kronk needed my help with identifying something and I obliged. Who needs sleep around here anyways? I'm all done if you and Officer Hopps need him."

"Yes, that would be appreciated," Kuzco said slowly, looking between him and Hopps. Moliere was no stranger to the staff and was often involved in cases that ended up here, but not usually unannounced. "They don't need me, but we should give them the room," Kuzco said with a suggestive nod out the door.

Moliere gave pause and looked like he wanted to argue but said nothing as he bid farewell to his friend and walked to the door. As he passed Judy his pace slowed down ever so slightly and for a few seconds they made eye contact. Seconds that felt like minutes as a silent challenge was issued between them; the tension in the air around them almost palpable.

Even once the door closed Judy still looked towards it, then turned to look at the floor in thought. ' _What was that about?_ ' "So uh, Officer. How can I uh, be of assistance to you?" said Kronk, his voice more than a couple of octaves lower than normal for a squirrel. Judy cracked a smile as she faced him due to how much he reminded her of Finnick.

Deciding to think about Moliere's presence later, she focused on the squirrel in front of her. She pulled her notepad and carrot pen from her belt, "I only have a couple of question, so this shouldn't take long. Were both Mr. Manchas and the stallion tested for any toxins in their system?"

"Uh, yes, I um…," the squirrel started to shuffle his feet nervously in a sort of dance and kept looking to the door that Kuzco and Moliere walked out of. Judy raised a questioning brow. "Something wrong Dr. Kronk?"

"Uh please, just call me Kronk. I'm not really a doctor. What was it you wanted to know?"

Sucking in a breath, Judy patiently reminded him. "What can you tell me about Mr. Manchas' and the stallion's examination?"

"Assuming you mean Spirit Freewind, uh, nothing was found in his system... and... he underwent surgery for his left hind leg because of torn ligaments. When he awoke a little bit ago he fervently insisted on that we check Mr. Manchas for toxins as well as telling us that the two were best friends and he doesn't blame Manchas."

"I see," Judy said as she jotted down a couple notes. "And no Dr. Kuzco failed to mention that."

"Yeah I'm not surprised. He's not a particularly... well let's just say he's not a very talkative llama," Kronk said with a bit of venom that Judy caught on to. They clearly had a history.

"So was anything found in Mr. Manchas' blood?"

Kronk nearly jumped at this question and Judy noticed a slight amount of extra puffiness and twitchiness of his long curled tail. "He...was...well. Uhhh…," again, Kronk paused and nervously looked towards the door. "Uh, no. Nothing was found in his system apart from a small amount of alcohol suggesting he could have been driving under the influence which would also help... uh, explain his... uuhh aggression towards Spirit."

Judy was not happy to hear this but nodded and wrote it down. ' _Nothing unusual was found :(_ '"But according to Spirit they were friends. Why do you think this would happen?" she asked.

"I can only guess that the alcohol helped uncover some underlying issues Manchas had with him. I guess he just snapped... Oh, and I hate to be the one to tell you this but since there is no real evidence supporting the decision to keep him here, apart from Spirit's defense, Mr. Manchas was sent to Cliffside Asylum... like all the others…"

Judy solemnly nodded and paraphrased what he said in her notes. "Well, in that case, thank you for your cooperation and contribution Kronk," Judy said as she dejectedly put away her notepad and pen and walked towards the door.

"Uh yeah sure but uh, is that really all?"

"Unless you have something else to add," Judy eagerly replied with her hand on the door, turning to him with a hopeful and inquisitive look. Kronk's angel and devil on his shoulder were screaming at each other and he bit his lip in uncertainty.

"You know it's the right thing to do Kronky," said the angel clad in a white robe on his right shoulder.

"It's also the _stupid_ thing to do," countered the devil, little horns coming out of his tiny temples.

"You would know a thing or two about stupid," said the angel, sassiness overflowing in his voice.

"Says the guy that goes around in a dress."

"For the thousandth time, _it's a robe!_ "

"Not helping me here guys," said Kronk, his dilemma still wrecking his mind.

"What?" asked Judy. With a poof, both manifestations of Kronk's morale vanished.

"Just uh... y'know, just thought I'd let you know that…," Kronk paused with his finger up in the air and his mouth open. Judy half reached for her notepad. "Well I just hope this doesn't become a cold case too, y'know, uh... don't lose hope," he said as he looked away and let his hand fall.

Disappointed he had nothing important to tell her, Judy mumbled thanks as she opened the door and stepped out. Before the door closed she gave one last look at the demure squirrel who was anxiously shifting around and looked like he _really_ needed to tell her something, but she couldn't just keep waiting around for him to only decide not to.

"Was surprised to see you here Hopps."

Judy _eep_ -ed and nearly jumped out of her skin when the voice spoke uncomfortably close to her back. She flipped around to see Moliere standing by the door that just clicked close behind her. Once she realized who it was, she composed herself and replied with an annoyed huff. "I could say the same for you."

Moliere smirked and eyed the floor as he slowly walked up to Judy. She wasn't used to being around a mammal that was actually shorter than her here in Zootopia. However even though he was just about up to her chest, she felt uneasy for some reason as he slowly approached her.

"I simply take an interest in all cases throughout Zootopia that involve toxins and minute details that often go unnoticed. It's why I'm good at what I do."

"And how does Chief Bogo feel about his lead forensics scientist poking his nose in a toxicology case?" Judy wasn't sure why she was feeling hostile but the manner in which Kronk spoke and the creepy aura that was oozing off Moliere put her on edge.

"A better question is what does he think about a grunt Officer, who already has a case, poking _her nose_ in a matter that should concern the CED?" Before she could formulate a reply, Moliere smiled, showing off all of his crooked and yellowed teeth, "Meh, it doesn't matter. Secrets among friends, yes?"

"Sure…," Judy tentatively agreed.

"How is the search for Wilde going anyways? You catch any traces of the pelt?" Judy frowned and resisted the urge to call Moliere out like she did with Dr. Kuzco and his attitude towards Mr. Manchas, but she was getting tired of correcting others.

"I've found some leads, yeah," Judy stiffly said. "That's actually why I was here. Mr. Manchas knew N- er, Mr. Wilde and could've led me to him. I actually need to get his address from Dr. Kuzco," Judy said trying to get away.

"No need, I can supply it. Though might I add a fair warning to a fellow ZPD member?"

"Ok…"

"The reason _I_ am here is because I was suspicious Mr. Manchas was involved with a certain group that is spreading through the city like a virus. And now with recent developments, I'm only more supportive of that theory."

Immediately recognizing who he was referring to, Judy thoughtfully responded. "But... how would that make sense? Why would a group of predators fighting for their rights make one of their own members go crazy?"

"You're implying there was an outside cause Ms. Hopps, only trace amounts of alcohol were found in his system. If anything this was a mission to instill more fear on both sides," upon Judy's inquisitive look he explained further.

"Manchas acts savage to cause us prey to fear them even more, which causes further prejudice which indirectly fuels The Surge. But, and this is what I'm suspicious of, which also answers your question, Manchas _may_ have been given the mission as a secret even within their ranks. That way, The Surge and other predators continue to think there are other causes apart from their own dwindling sanity. This again, fuels their motives."

Judy remained silent during the whole explanation, letting it all sink in, so Moliere continued. "I was going to investigate Mr. Manchas' place myself, off the books of course, but since that serves as a dual purpose for you, I'll let you go do that. Here's the address," said Moliere, handing her a piece of paper with the address scribbled on it.

"Oh, uh, thank you," she said numbly. After reading his address and seeing it's in the Rainforest District she brightened up and thanked him with more energy and departed with a jog, both because of her newly found energy and to just... get away from him.

As she grew distant, Moliere cracked a smile.

* * *

"So lemme get this straight…," Nick said as he warily eyed the long fall below them as they crossed the rickety bridge to Manchas' address. "The lead forensic scientist for the ZPD, who was also there off the books, is suggesting The Surge is playing everyone for fools and causing the savage attacks themselves to fuel their own agenda by instigating more fear in prey, which in theory causes them to hate predators all the more and therefore adds more fuel to The Surge," Nick took a breath. "Did I get all that right?"

"That... about sums it up Slick."

"Wow... I've not heard _that_ theory before and…," Nick didn't want to say it out loud but that theory made an uncomfortable amount of sense. Far more than most of the others he'd heard. "And in other news the forecast calls for an increase of rain and the explosion of Nick Wilde's mind."

"Yeah," Judy said with a light chuckle. "That's about how I responded too."

After they crossed the rickety bridge Judy walked up to the door and shoved some vines and growth out of the way while Nick shook himself off slightly. Judy knocked on the door a few times and there was no response, so she tried the handle, only to find that it was locked.

"Does lock picking happen to be in your repertoire?" asked Judy, eyeing the fox to her side.

Nick scoffed in disingenuous hurt. "Ugh, madam, what kind of lowlife criminal do you think I am?"

Judy crookedly smiled at him with her hands on her hips, a look that said. " _Really, how stupid do you think I am?_ " Nick smiled his signature smug look and while keeping eye contact he pulled out his wallet and let fall the slab of it that held his extensive lock picking kit. Judy didn't even give it a glance and her smile just grew as she stepped aside and gestured towards the door. "Work your magic Slick Nick."

"Oh, you have no idea bunny," Nick said as he crouched down in front of the lock and went to work. Before he could apply a filter his smart mouth decided to quietly add, "You should chat with some of the vixens I knew," Judy of course heard it and groaned in mock disgust as she idly kept watch as Nick worked on the lock.

A few moments passed where all Judy heard were the peaceful sounds of the Rainforest district, water falling through the vegetation, and the occasional clinking of Nick working the lock with various tools.

"How... many girlfriends _have_ you had Nick?" The question caused Nick to pause in his work and sneak a glance at Judy before returning his attention to the lock.

"A fair number. Some that didn't last long, some one night stands a couple more long-term. I've been a very busy and happy bachelor most of my life," said Nick. "Quite a few have fell victim to the charm of a dashing rogue fox such as myself," which was actually sort of a white lie but she didn't need to know that.

After a few more moments of silence passed Nick was starting to run out of tricks to use on this surprisingly complex lock. Manchas really must not have wanted people in his house. "Why do ya ask Carrots? You making sure that I'm-"

Nick was cut off as two grey bunny feet connected with the door right next to his face and broke it open with a loud _CRASH!_ "Ruttin hell!" Nick yelled as he fumbled and fell onto his back while Judy casually walked into the house unamused.

"You were taking too long. We are on a time limit after all."

With a sigh and an impressed smirk from below, Nick got up and dusted himself off. "If you say so."

Once he put his kit back into his wallet, he kicked the door shut behind him (or as much as it could close now) and noticed that there was also a deadbolt and a chain on the door. _If those were set, getting through that first lock wouldn't have done a lot of good._ Giving the door one last long look he walked up to Judy's side. "So what're we looking for Carrots?"

"Anything that gives us a clue as to Mr. Manchas' allegiance. Maybe something that'd connect him to The Surge." Nick nodded and without another word they split up to look through the house.

It was impressively clean and free of mold for being located in the most humid district of the city, on top of being carved into a tree. Then again, most of the housing solutions here in the RainForest District were embedded into trees, so it must've worked somehow. The layout of the apartment wasn't anything special by any standards, one single room made for the bottom floor, a small kitchenette on the far left corner inwards of the entrance, sided by a small door that lead to a toilette. A medium sized bed was lodged in the leftmost corner of the room under a window, and a circular red and yellow rug was draped on the ground.

On the right side there was an old looking drawer, a withered sunflower sitting in a vase on top of it. On the left of said drawer were a set of stairs the lead to the cramped mansard, rows and rows of bookshelves were lining the wall, filled to the brims with books on every topic imaginable.

Judy set out to look through the bottom floor, since it was better lit than the mansard, and Nick's night vision was far superior to hers. She started with the kitchenette, looking through the cupboards and searching for anything that would help her but coming up short. She started towards the bed, but something caught her eye before she could reach it. On the rug sat a small tuft of white fur, which wasn't odd per se, but Mr. Manchas was a jaguar, and his fur was jet black. Bending down and producing a pair of tweezers and a small plastic bag from her belt, Judy picked up the sample and eyed closely, paying no heed to Nick walking back downstairs and past her. ' _Polar bear fur,_ ' she realized. Putting the sample away, she set out the bed once more.

The sheets were pristine and smelled of fabric softener, without any trace of fur whatsoever. That struck her as unusual as while she could understand wanting to keep the house tidy and clean, the bed looked like no one ever slept on it.

She turned her head to the weathered drawer on the right wall, and checked every compartment. She came up empty pawed however, as there was only an old and outdated phonebook. She looked at the top and spotted a small black triangle sticking out from underneath the vase, and reached for it. It was a business card for TundraTown Limo Service, the title for the business made of a reflective silver color contrasting with the black background. She took another small evidence bag and stuffed it away in her belt. After another glance around the small apartment she called out to Nick who was now in the bathroom. "You find anything Nick?"

Nick walked out of the bathroom and spoke as he continued to look around. "Picked up an odd amount of MuskMask around here. That coupled with the fact that the bathroom is messy as I'd expect a bachelor's to be, while the kitchen and living room are as tidy as can be and yet still covered in the stuff… I'd say someone cleaned this place up other than Manchas."

"Well look at you junior detective," Judy proudly said. Nick loosely shrugged and smiled and Judy almost added on the thought of how good of a cop he'd probably make, but held it in as he probably wouldn't appreciate the comment. Maybe in a society where predators and prey were treated _far_ more equally than they are today would they be able to be... partners.

Judy felt another wave of annoyance hit her as the thought of being anything more than friends and temporary partners crossed her mind. _Don't be such a dumb bunny_ , she scolded herself. That kind of thing could never happen between a predator and prey.

"What about you?" asked Nick.

"Well, I found some polar bear fur on the floor which is weird cause he's a black jaguar. Like you I noticed his bed is pristinely made and I thought I picked up a smell on it, which you detected everywhere as well. And... This business card for TundraTown limo service on his dresser. I'd wager that's where he works or he's a regular for them."

"So we got polar bear fur, a business card for TundraTown limo service, MuskMask and a cleaning job. What conclusions can be made from that _Senior_ Detective?" Nick jabbed back, slightly concerned about his sixth sense telling him that she's annoyed with him.

Judy gave him a cross look and put her hands on her hips as she thought. Nick also did not know and joined her in thinking but without striking such a cute pose. "Well... for some reason like you mentioned, somebody cleaned this place up apart from Mr. Manchas. We didn't find any connections to The Surge but I suppose that could've been them and maybe-" as Judy continued to theorize Nick's small proud smile faded as the gears in his mind started to turn.

_TundraTown limo service... polar bears... oddly complex front door lock with several other security measures, house cleaned up to not look lived in on the surface. Somebody or some group didn't... want Manchas..._ _Oh wait... is he...? Oh that's why I recognized him! He's-!_

Both their ears and heads turned to the front door flying open, two shadows looming over them. Before Judy figured out who or what they even were, Nick shoved Judy hard and out of the way. She landed hard on her back, and was about to shout at Nick for an explanation, when she saw him crumpling to the ground due to a dart in his chest and one in his neck.

"Run you dumb bunny," Nick struggled to get out as his eyelids fell shut.

Judy looked up at the two newcomers then to Nick in shock and then back. ' _Who are these guys?!_ ' As the pair stepped into the light she came to see that they were both polar bears wearing black clothing, each holding dart guns in their massive paws.

One of them disregarded her with a nod and a grunt and went to pick up Nick, while the other pointed his gun towards her. Judy looked down the barrel of the weapon then up at the polar bear who was about to do who knows what with her and her new found friend. She felt so much fear for the future that she closed her eyes and waited for whatever would happen to happen.

But the sharp pain of the dart never came. Opening them, she saw the polar bear lower it and then gruffly said. "Ugh, you bunnies are just too cute." Judy bristled and the anger she should've felt when Nick got knocked out finally came to the surface. She was about to attack when a dart coming from the side of her opponent struck her perfectly in the neck.

Within seconds she was out.

"You're getting soft Kevin," said the polar bear that was now holding Nick over his shoulder.

"Oh shuddup Raymond. If she was giving _you_ those eyes you would've stopped cold in your tracks too," rebutted his companion, taking a knee to pick up the small rabbit slumped on the floor.

The world around her was a blur. Her still half asleep mind was a mangled mess, and the various sensations she was feeling weren't helping her. Her ears were as cold as ice, but her back was burning hot. Something was holding her tight as a vice, and her head was spinning like crazy.

As her mind cleared, Judy picked up on the conversation happening around her, "..disappointed in you Nicky. You're even braver and stupider than last time we met." Who the heck was talking down to Nick?

' _Nick...NICK! He pushed me out of the way and got shot. Those polar bears!_ 'Judy's eyes flew open and she expected to understand what was going on better than just listening to her surroundings, but got the exact opposite. She was tied upside down! What more, above a pond of some very chilly looking ice water. What the rut was going on?!

"Wooaaaahhh sweet cheese and crackers! What's going on?! Why am I- Niiickkk!" Judy screamed and writhed in her restraints.

"Hopps, Hopps! Judy calm down, you're not helping!" Nick tried to cajole from against her back but she continued to wiggle around and caused them to swing.

" _Carrots!_ " Nick finally screamed. Judy stopped.

"What?!" she yelled back.

"Calm down," Nick tried again. "I was just in the middle of a _lovely_ conversation with our captors."

"Uh, huh?" Judy said, still only looking at the ice water and trying to get a view of Nick behind her.

"Say hello to our host... Mr. Big," Nick unenthusiastically introduced. Judy frantically looked around until she caught sight of a table and squinted her eyes to focus down on something small placed in the center.

In her nine months in Zootopia Judy had heard quite a few stories about Mr. Big who was the ruthless and most feared crime lord of TundraTown. According to police records however, the Corleone family are listed as _low priority_ while the other large organized crime factions, like Mr. Sandman's in Sahara Square, are significantly higher on the 'to-do' list. She never could figure out why.

But from all that she knew about his organization, somehow somewhere she failed to learn that this super fearsome leader... Was an arctic shrew.

"Huh…," Judy plainly said as she observed the tiny critter in his tiny chair wearing a tiny tuxedo. His eyebrows were so thick and busy that they entirely covered his eyes but she could tell he wasn't amused.

"As I was saying Mr. Big," Nick finally continued. "We were not there to find evidence to your involvement. I didn't even realize that Manchas was connected to you."

"Then why else would you break into his house to snoop around for clues? Looking for more avenues to sell skunk-ass rugs?"

"Sheesh, you're seriously still mad about that...?" Nick rhetorically asked under his breath. Mr. Big just slightly rose an eyebrow. "No, I was just-"

"Sir, like Nick said, _WE_ were-"

"No Carrots, shush, lemme do the talking."

"What dya mean let you do the talking? It clearly hasn't done us any good."

"We weren't even talking that long before you woke up, you can't say that."

"Yes I can, I've seen firsthand how good you are at persuasive language."

"Uh, which one of us is a salesmammal again?"

"I meant in terms of defusing a hostile situation you dumb fox."

"Oh what would you know about my skills in that department?"

Back and forth, back and forth. Mr. Big just shook his head and rested it on a fist while the two continued to bicker like an old married couple. On and on they pointlessly argued about seemingly nothing. ' _How long has Nicky known this bunny?_ 'Mr. Big thought in exasperation. If he had to guess the two have known each other for months.

He was planning on waiting it out but after it continued for several more moments, Maurice, the largest polar bear to his left silently asked if he wanted this to stop. So with a subtle wave of the hand Mr. Big gave the word and the rope holding the two of them up dropped a few feet before coming to an abrupt halt. It had the desired effect; they both screamed and stopped talking to his relief... for a moment anyway. But then the bunny said, "See?! Fat help your _speech craft_ skills have done us!"

"About just as useful as your escape skills dumb bunny," Nick quickly retorted.

Mr. Big sighed and rubbed his temples as they went at it again. "I just know their honeymoon is gonna show up on the Richter scale."

He half debated just icing them completely without a word but this was marginally amusing and he did have other matters to attend to. So, to the surprise of his polar bears, he got up off his chair and walked to the edge of the table. Maurice almost lunged to catch him but Mr. Big waved him off with assurance he was fine.

Looking up at the bunny and fox still bickering at each other as they slowly rotated around, he spoke. "Are you two done?"

Surprisingly, they heard him. Both sets of ears and their heads turned to him and now that they had been lowered, they were at eye level with him. "Good," is all Mr. Big said as he walked back to his chair and sat down. "Now ice 'em."

"Woah woah woah, you gotta be kiddin' this wasn't about you!" Nick screamed, his collar's light turning yellow and bleeping furiously.

"Sir if you kill us you're ending the biggest hope in saving Zootopia!"

"'Saving Zootopia,'" Mr. Big echoed as they were slowly lowered into the ice water. "You're adorable child. The spirit of Zootopia died decades ago."

"We weren't there because of you. We don't even care about you! We were there because of _The Surge_!" Judy yelled as the tips of her ears touched the icy cold water. Mr. Big raised his eyebrows so much so that his icy blue eyes were revealed and with a quick flick of the wrist their descent was halted. Both Nick and Judy let out a small breath of relief. They were so close that they could practically feel the warmth being sucked out of them by the ice water.

Without any indication to them, the pair were raised a couple feet and one of the polar bears covered up the ice pool and they were let down shortly after and completely unbound. Now they both stood there rubbing their paws from the tight constraints and awkwardly waiting.

"What do you know of The Surge?" Mr. Big finally asked while examining his paws.

Nick and Judy looked at each other for who would speak and silently agreed. "That they're a radical protest group of predators that's gone out of control" "They're a group of predator rights activists that are secretly sinister." Judy and Nick both said at the same time. Again, they looked at each other and were about to start arguing when Mr. Big quickly spoke up before they could start again.

"Same idea, different wording. If that is the case, and what you say is actually what you believe, then I have a question for each of you," Nick gulped and Judy readied herself for whatever question would be thrown her way.

"Nicky, if they're fighting for your rights, why aren't you with them?"

Judy too turned her head curiously to look at the predator. She had wondered that herself many times and not gotten a solid answer. "Simple. The ideas they have are fine, their methods are not."

Mr. Big nodded. Short and concise, just how he liked it. "And you, Judy Hopps, as The Surge is primarily a matter of the CED, and remains to not be a concern to Bogo or City Hall, what do you think you are doing involved in such affairs?"

Gathering her thoughts for moment to be as concise as Nick, she spoke, "I'm involved for the same reason I became a cop in the first place, I'm trying to make the world a better place."

Mr. Big 'meh'ed but accepted the cheesy and idealistic response. "What led you two to Manchas then? I only know of that he went savage and was sent to the hospital instead of Cliffside, at least initially."

Without even thinking about it, Nick and Judy recounted together the story of what lead them to Manchas and how they received a tip that the jaguar might work for The Surge. Surprisingly enough, this time they managed to not overlap each other, and actually spoke one at a time picking up where the other stopped.

"Well whoever told you that was correct. He _was_ involved with them, but as a double agent for me. The Surge must've caught on and made him go crazy, or made him a deal he couldn't refuse and betrayed me."

"So what theory do you support, Sir?" Nick asked. "The one who gave us the clue thinks there is no outside cause."

"I support no theory. There are many possible pieces, but none so far have fit perfectly into the puzzle," Mr. Big said and the two drooped a little. They hoped an actual crime lord might have more insight for them. "But maybe... you two will find the right ones."

Judy was honestly flabbergasted at how this scene was unfolding. He was sparing them! And not just because they had information he may want, but it was like he was setting them loose upon The Surge.

Judy knew she probably shouldn't ask, and Nick would no doubt disapprove, but Judy had to know. "Mr. Big... you're a crime lord, and I'm a cop. Why would you help us?" Nick reached out to stop her and she batted his arm away without even a glance. "Don't you have some ultimate sinister plans for Zootopia?"

Mr. Big unnoticeably smirked at let out a 'meh' again. "You're brave Officer Hopps, but it's likely because of your naivety. It's a good thing you have Nicky here with you. Creates a good balance…," as he spoke, Mr. Bigs' voice gradually got quieter, as if he was just plainly thinking out loud but neither Judy nor Nick spoke up since the pregnant pause he took clearly meant he had more to say.

"No Ms. Hopps, I have no grand 'sinister' plan as you so adorably put it. My time for scheming and climbing the ladder ended once I reached the top. In fact I'll answer your question with one of my own, what does one do when he's reached the top of the food chain? What else is there to do but look down and cherry pick your fights?

Well, sometimes you get bored and start to create your own conflicts. Some call it the warrior's dilemma. Peace becomes boring after years and years of conflict, it becomes like an itch to return to action."

The room was silent after he finished. Neither Nick nor Judy had ever heard anything like that before. After an additional moment of contemplation on both sides, Mr. Big spoke. "You're both free. I have no interest in stopping you."

They stood still for a second, wide eyes trained on the minute shrew, trying to discern if he was just playing some sick game with them. After they were sure he wasn't, they both turned to look at the other and gave a small relieved smile. Quickly nodding and turning towards the door behind them, they were ready to hightail it out of there.

Before they could actually get out the room however, he called out to them, "Wait a moment." Immediately they froze, paws still outstretched towards the handle. ' _SO CLOSE._ ' they thought in unison. "As I said I have no interest in stopping you, but I _am_ interested in two things that may interest you as well."

They both turned around to look at him, interests now officially peaked. Mr. Big looked at Judy (or at least she thought he was) as he spoke. "Almost twenty years ago now, some events unfolded and seeds were planted that grew and ultimately led the city to the state it is now in. It may be worth... looking into what happened, using the resources you have."

He then slightly moved his head in the direction of Nick, "And because of your employment history, you may have heard of a place colloquially known as 'The Foxes' Den' over in Central Bay," Nick quickly combed his mind for any information he might have of that place, but came up short. He slightly shook his head in the negative. "Hmm, no matter. Then it might hold even more worth for you to investigate."

"Now go. Kevin and Raymond will take you to the train station. You got a big day ahead, and the two of you look like you could use some sleep," Mr. Big said with amusement creeping into his voice as he observed Judy slightly leaning on Nick and the fox's eyes drooping more than his usual smug look.

The pair didn't get a chance to reply, since as soon as Mr. Big finished talking the massive paws of Kevin and Raymond descended on them, and they were unceremoniously picked up like two sack of potatoes and carried out the chilly room.

For a brief moment after they left, Mr. Big and his entourage remained silent. After a beat, the shrew turned towards his top henchman, "Get me a phone. Need to make a call."

* * *

The car ride to the train station was the most awkward drive either had ever experienced. Pressed between two enormous polar bears, Nick and Judy barely had room to breathe, let alone hold any conversation. Not that either felt very talkative anyways. After miraculously surviving the encounter with Mr. Big, both of them felt drained of every ounce of energy they had and wanted nothing more than to lie down on a bed and sleep for a small eternity.

Luckily, while extremely awkward, the car ride did not last too long, and soon they both found themselves at their destination. The two now stood in the middle of the train station and idly rocked on their feet and battled their increasingly heavy eyelids. The pair were even so tired that they didn't really notice the cold biting air of TundraTown around them. Nick was surprisingly having the hardest time battling his fatigue and was barely standing, with his ears splayed out and large yawns escaping his maw at regular intervals.

"Thought you're a nocturnal animal slick," Judy teased from his side with such a heavily slurred voice it sounded like she was drunk.

Nick was grateful that the silent treatment between them had finally ended and even more so that she had broken it first. "Nocturnal yes, but after being awake all day, getting chased through the city by an angry doe, and surviving all the other crazy chaos that has happened today, it's fair to say my battery is drained. I'm not an energizer bunny like you."

Judy sleepily laughed. "Well to be honest I'm there too Slick," looking up at one of the clocks in the station, Judy saw that it was now approaching four in the morning. "Ugh, and I gotta be at the precinct in just a couple hours too."

"You do? I thought you were 'searching for me'?"

"Well... I am," Judy said. "But I should probably show my face at the precinct in the morning, and I need to go there to do what Mr. Big suggested anyways."

"Ah," was all Nick said before returning to thoughts of how he was going to do what he knew he needed to do but didn't want to do because... Well, apparently he secretly lacks a sack.

Since they were splitting up and... Well he had to assume they weren't just going to end all connections with each other, they sort of needed a way to keep in touch, so obviously he should _ask for her number!_ It wouldn't be the first time he's asked for a number so what the hell was the problem?

Meanwhile, in Judy's mind... _zzzzzzzzzz_.

Once again like in the hospital, Judy started leaning towards Nick, but this time hardly fought it at all and rested herself against his steady and warm figure, sighing in content at the vertical pillow.

But right before she truly nodded off, a small thought of tomorrow passed through her mind and she realized they were parting ways for now. She needed his number! "Oh, Nick! I need your number," she said as she woke herself up a little, got off him and pulled out her phone. But once she took it out, she paused and nervously spoke. "I mean... that is, assuming we're... um..."

Thanking the gods above for letting her broach the subject first and kicking himself for not being enough of a mammal to just ask like she did, he quickly went to assure her, "We're all good Carrots."

"Yeah well, sorry for freaking out like that and saying what I said earlier," she said, looking at the ground and smothering her ears on her back.

Nick again just humbly chuckled but was also incredibly appreciative that she had it within her to apologize. He wasn't honestly sure if a friend had ever done so earnestly. "I'm used to it."

Judy scoffed but was also pleased they were quickly falling back into their friendly bantering. "Oh and thanks for trying to save me at Manchas' house. I probably should have ran like you told me to, but it all worked out alright in the end, right?"

' _Yes... it did._ ' Nick realized. How strange.

But the surprisingly optimistic results of tonight's events didn't even scratch the surface of how bizarre everything was these days. In just the past twenty-four hours he had witnessed a bunny that wasn't stupid, a police captain that was likely corrupt, a crime boss on the border of being a good guy, all while trying to deal with a group of predators trying to do good and instead doing the opposite.

"So... about that number slick," Nick was brought back from his reverie and blinked, before his brain caught up with the question. He quickly dug his phone out and exchanged numbers with the bunny cop. ' _Huh, I am willingly giving personal information to a cop. Never thought I'd see the day._ '

As they were creating each other's contact info, fondly named 'dumb fox' and 'that sly bunny,' the train pulled into the station. Hardly any mammals got off and Judy was about to step on, only to stop when she realized Nick wasn't coming. "You're not heading to Savannah Central?"

Nick looked up from his phone and for a moment, with his ears perked high and eyes fully open the thought of how cute he looked flashed through Judy's mind. "Correct district but wrong area. I'd rather not walk 20+ blocks from the station back to my place when I'm this tired."

Judy giggled. Wait, what was funny? She didn't know. She was tired. "Alright slick," this time Judy did enter the train but turned around as she just had to blatantly ask the question that was on her mind, just like with Mr. Big.

"Nick…," Judy started but then hesitated at the oddity of the question she wanted to ask. She never had to _ask_ such a thing before, it was always implied and she simply rolled with it. But the way he slightly inclined his head and that she could even see the smile in his vibrantly green eyes chased any uncertainty away. "You could say we're friends now, right?" She apprehensively asked.

Nick laughed and put his hands on his hips while looking away and shaking his head. "Nooope, I still secretly hate you. That's why you're named dumb bunny on my phone."

Even though Judy's brain was running on fumes, there was no way she was believing that. He was too obvious with the way his eyes were sparkling with mischief, his ears trained on her to capture her reaction, the barely noticeable smile on his muzzle and the very open posture he was sporting. He _did_ consider her his friend, but just didn't want to admit it.

She scoffed at the conclusion. ' _Males,_ ' she thought with no small amount of dry humor.

"Yeah sure you dumb fox. Which is your contact name too by the way. So I'll... see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Nick fondly said, only to immediately turn serious as his mind changed gears. "Though, on that note, when or where should we meet tomorrow? Especially since you'll officially be out of time to catch me by the end of the day."

Judy sagged her head and let out a groan, stopping the doors from closing with a tired paw. She had actually forgotten about that stupid time limit. "I don't know. We'll figure that out tomorrow."

The small jingle announcing the trains' imminent departure rang through the station, and Judy took the last steps into the car. "Keep it in contact, Nick," she said with a tired but true smile as she let the doors close.

Nick simply nodded while returning the smile and taking a few steps back. As he watched the train depart and leave his view, he admitted to himself: ' _Yeah... friend._ 'He didn't notice how excited and happy he felt until his collar blinked yellow and buzzed in warning.

... But he gave not a single mouse fart.


	9. Wayward Son

There was no doubt about the fact in her mind, or anyone else's for that matter, that Judy was one-hundred percent a morning mammal.

So understandably the front desk receptionist, Alejandro the ass, was quite shocked when the little grey bunny walked through the front doors looking like a zombie with her ears flaccid against her back, posture slouched, and heavily dragging her feet.

The donkey always imagined she was the kind of mammal that would spring out of bed full of energy and ready to start the day. That's what she always seemed to be like anyways. "Rough night out, little bunny?" he jeered with a wicked grin.

But as she kept on walking to the bullpen without the slightest sign of hearing him, his malicious grin fell into a disappointed scowl.

As she hopped up into her seat and plopped down, looking aimlessly into the distance with her eyes just barely open, a few of the mammals around her gave each other and the rabbit curious looks with whispers of "get some coffee into that bunny" floating around. Judy has truthfully never been the sort of mammal to need coffee in the morning. She also really disliked the idea of mammals depending on it... and she's admittedly never had some as growing up as a bunny caffeine was avoided like the plague, else she'd no doubt be bouncing off the walls.

The innocent curiosity of why Judy was so tired didn't last long however, and abruptly changed when someone Judy didn't recognize by voice crudely suggested, "Meh, she probably had a late night bangin' some buck for all he's worth! That's what bunnies do best, after all." This was received with a loud roar of laughter from the room.

In the blink of an eye, all the tiredness she was feeling was replaced by white hot rage. Slowly, she turned her head towards the first voice and spotted Bucksworth, a deer officer with which Judy never exchanged more than a 'Good Morning" with. How dare he make such comments on her integrity! Oh, she was gonna give him a piece of her mind! Judy made to stand from her seat, when another voice in the mix added, "Hey! Whatever she does off the clock it's none of our business!"

A spark of gratefulness grew in her chest with the words from her colleague, and she was about to thank him, but then he had more to say, "And I'm betting the sex wasn't even that great, that's why she's so glum!" With this, another round of roaring laughter echoed in the room, and even more officers shared their theories of how good or bad her "fun night" was. Judy felt a mix of anger and embarrassment swirl in her belly, but considering how tired she was, and how almost everyone in the room was making fun of her, she decided to settle on embarrassment alone. There was no point in arguing when no one would listen. So, with a decidedly red hued face she slunk back in her seat with a groan.

_That_ completed her image of a zombie. And for some reason, as she writhed in embarrassment, an image of orange fur matched with emerald green eyes and a smug smile came into her mind's eye.

Judy let out a sardonic "ha" and pushed the image out of her mind for more important thoughts. There was too much to think about now for those kind of crazy… things.

Thinking, as it so happens, is the real reason she was so tired. Once she finally got home last night after the ordeal with Mr. Big, despite feeling exhausted, her mind was so abuzz with thought that she couldn't fall asleep for quite some time and only ended up getting about two hours of sleep. And now that she had slept on a mind full of thoughts, she had a whole new set of developed ones to chew on.

She hardly even noticed when Higgins called everyone to attention and didn't care in the slightest when Bogo entered and proceeded with his usual yelling at everyone to shut up and reading out his list of things on his docket.

After the morning roll-call was done with, the bunny sluggishly dragged her feet to her cubicle and logged on her computer. Or she tried to rather.  _Incorrect password,_  the computer silently said. With a grumble, she quickly retyped it but again,  _incorrect password._ She then looked down at her hands on the keyboard and saw how incorrectly her fingers were placed.

"Back where you belong at last eh, rabbit?" Judy's ears flicked towards the voice at the entrance of her cubicle and she slowly turned her icy glare to see who it was. She didn't know his name, but there stood a sheep in an officer's uniform with a pair of glasses on him that looked better suited for a grandma.

"Oh, don't gimme that look. You tried your luck chasin' down the one fox that none of us could get, what'd ya expect? Now you're doing stuff you should,  _theoretically_ , be able to handle." The fluffy sheep goaded with a grin that told her he was quite amused with himself. Judy didn't respond and just turned back to her computer knowing he'd go away in a moment.

"Come to think of it, why'd you ever become a cop in the first place if you're not going to be able to handle anything larger than the size of your monitor?"

Her lips curled in anger as that reminded her of the trains of thoughts that her parents would have. Though the temptation of calling him out and saying something along the lines of ' _I am sure I could handle your fluffy ass just fine in a sparring ring_ ' was strong, she knew that it would only escalate things. So, with renewed anger, she ground her teeth to silence herself, and with more force than necessary, she pounded in her password for a third time. Once more, she got a red message in response,  _incorrect password, two attempts remaining._

Slamming both her paws onto her keyboard she stood up so quick that her chair went flying back and slammed against the wall of her cubicle making the sheep currently draping on her door recoil in fright. With a furious exhale that briefly reminded her of Bogo, she stomped her way down the hall into the lounge to get some coffee without noticing, or perhaps simply not caring, about more than a few curious heads poking out of their respective cubicles to see what the noise was about.

' _It's official._ ' Judy inwardly snarled. ' _I hate this place._ '

* * *

A few hours later, also known as a much more agreeable time for a non-morning mammal, also known as nearly noon, a small bell signaled Nick walking into a pawnshop on the other side of town from Judy. As he walked in and looked around, a wave of familiarity washed over him from all the time he once spent in here. Putting his hands on his hips and loftily looked around at the decently large -considering who it was run by- shop, he saw that quite a lot had changed. Both the left and the right walls were covered with rows and rows of shelves full of any kind of stuff. From stuffed animals to chainsaws. The counter had an embedded glass case, with carefully displayed jewelry, and behind another row of shelves, this time filled with musical instruments.

As he strolled up to the counter he put on his best smile for in a moment or two- yup, there he is.

Behind the counter stood up a brown bear wearing an open brown plaid workshirt. At the sight of Nick, he broke into a large smile and called out, "Niiiiiccckkk wazzzuuupppp? Long time no see my brother from another mother. How's business?"

Casually looking around the shop once more as he spoke, Nick said, "Oooh it's going alright Brutus. Just usual business for predators as I'm sure you know," he said turning to him with a sly grin and a small wink.

Brutus heartily chuckled and spread his arms wide open, "Hey woah there Mr. Fox, I got no idea what you're talkin' about. However,with that in mind, can I help you find anything?"

"Yes, actually you can," Nick began as he saddled up closer to Brutus to speak more quietly. "I'm trying to find some good... let's say... _traders_  to possibly help me start up my own place like this."

Brutus again laughed. He loved these kinds of conversations. They made him feel sneaky like he was some kind of undercover agent. "Really? I never woulda expected you to settle down for  _that_ sort of...  _business_. Why the sudden change from your usual technique?"

"Well, to be honest with you, the movements of our  _mutual friends_  have caused the ZPD to have a bit more presence in some of my favorite areas. Perhaps if I settled down I might be a bit less conspicuous." Nick said with an overly grave voice that Judy would've had a laughing fit over.

Upon the mention of their mutual friends, Nick knew Brutus caught onto who he meant as he then looked remorseful. "Ah... well, I'm... sorry to hear that." The brown bear murmured while avoiding eye contact with Nick. "I didn't know there were really any... downsides. Um, here, I think I might have something that will prove quite useful."

As the brown bear turned to get something behind him Nick's smile faltered for a second but quickly returned when Brutus turned back around and handed him a small business card.

"The fox's den?" Nick asked feigning incredulity and hurt. "I'm actually insulted. Why haven't I heard about this place?"

"Oh, well, I'm once again sorry there my friend, but we do our best to keep it on a need-to-know basis. And you're not too far behind in news anyways, they only created it a few months ago."

Without missing a beat about the slip of information there, Nick thanked him and after a little bit more of meaningless and awkward small talk, said his goodbye.

Once he was outside, the minor pang of guilt that Nick was feeling earlier for subtly interrogating an old friend was vaporized as he processed all the information he'd gotten out of him. Brutus was clearly in league with The Surge given how he reacted to Nick's "news" and the knowledge that The Fox's Den was created by them. Cracking a wide smile, he couldn't resist saying, "Et tu brute?"

Even though his destination was also in the Savannah District, it took a surprisingly long time to get across due to an increased number of ZPD patrols and avoiding members of The Surge. Thus, more than an hour later Nick found himself walking across a parking lot to such an obvious place for a black market that he wanted to slap himself.

An Amazon warehouse.

Standing on the outskirts of the place, Nick felt admittedly nervous. He'd really have to work his foxy skills in there. But one good point of comfort was that while he stood outside and observed, he saw a good number of predators walking around so it'd at least be easier for him to fit in.

He was still not 100% sure about doing this however. True, Mr. Big himself pointed out that it would be beneficial to their "investigations" if they checked this place out, but that didn't mean it made him more confident about his task. A great number of things could go wrong, and he was sure that if anyone from The Surge got wind of what he was doing, he was done for.

So then why wasn't he just walking away? Why was he still casing the place? As if to answer these questions, a faint image of vibrantly amethyst eyes flashed in his mind, and words echoed in his ears "You're a good mammal Nick... what chance does Zootopia have if the good mammals do nothing?"

With renewed vigor towards his mission and taking a deep breath, Nick began marching forward to an open area that was devoted to loading and unloading trucks, if the number of trucks lined up in row and all the mammals buzzing around was any indication.

Before he got there however, some workers standing around and talking to each other on some picnic tables caught his attention. Walking closely behind them and looking around as if he was simply looking for something he misplaced, he had no difficulty going unnoticed by them. That is why when a hardhat went missing, nobody thought to ask the random fox walking around about it.

Walking into the enormous warehouse, he was hit with yet another wave of uncertainty as he saw how large the place was. What exactly was he looking for? Pulling out the business card that Brutus gave him and reading it again, he saw nothing of use that he hadn't noticed before.

' _Well might as well pull over and ask for directions then_.' Choosing at random, Nick spotted a honey badger walking around and walked up to him. Or what he thought was a "him" at least, he was never good at identifying their gender from a distance. "Excuse me, uh, sir, could you help me find-"

"Just go to section 9 and three quarters, fox." Said a very definite  _female_  voice without even looking up from her clipboard.

Nick's mouth stayed open for a beat as he felt a rare flush of heat in his already red face and walked stiffly and quickly away. Now he had to figure out where his destination was and how sections were labeled. Seeing a forklift that was turned off with its polar bear worker still nearby, Nick quickly hopped up into it and snatched the clipboard before walking off again.

After flipping through many pages, he finally found one that resembled a map and key of the different sections. Most of them were labeled with incongruous things like S-117, A113, and NCC-1701, but over in the top left corner he found ones labeled 914 and T-1000; it must be in between those two.

With his destination somewhat clearer, Nick ambled towards the inner parts of the warehouse. Looking around as he walked, all he could see were towering industrial shelves filled with merchandise. It almost seemed like a redundant theme today. Only these shelves weren't full of random stuff like the ones in Brutus' shop. Each section was labeled, and had only one type of product in it.

It took a bit of frustrated wandering and backtracking but he finally located himself on the border between 914 and T-1000, only to stand there looking confused. On both sides of him were walls of wooden crates stacked nearly as high as a giraffe with little to no indication of the sections they were in between. He was rather thrown by this and walked a few paces back to where they were labeled 914 and then walked forward and counted four columns of crates with labels on them that didn't seem to belong here until he hit ones labeled T-1000 again.

His eyes darted to and from as he thought about what to do next and was about to try something when- "Just push open the third from the ninth section on ground level you noob." Nick nearly jumped out of his fur at the voice and turned to see a lion walking by without a care in the world.

Following the lion's curt suggestion, he walked up to the wall on the right and pushed on the third crate at ground level which was so small that even Judy would've needed to crawl through. Nothing happened. Pushing a few more times with more strength still bared no response.

Maybe he meant the other side.

Walking over to the other wall, and finding the corresponding crate which was coincidentally exactly as tall as he was, Nick pushed with a moderate amount of force and it begrudgingly swung open.

After looking around to make sure no one was looking (interestingly none of the workers that he could see in the aisle were looking his way) he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

Once he walked out of the empty box, Nick stood in an area about as wide as his living room. Which was surprising already, but what surprised him even more was realizing that the entire space, that stretched out until the end of the aisle behind the boxes he came in from, was hollowed out from other similar boxes. The ceiling and walls were all made from parts of shipping crates nailed and screwed together. The space was dimly lit by a chain of low hanging light bulbs much like one would see in an old-fashioned mine. All in all, the setting was almost creepy, which did not ease the vulpine one bit.

Looking around some more, he spotted smaller crates and boxed with the top open filled with anything a mammal could buy. There were boxes full of computer parts, office supplies, clothes, yard maintenance items, book and just about anything else you could get on Amazon.

One small crate that wasn't open and was seated between two other open ones piqued his curiosity. Approaching the crate, he read the parcel that was taped on top of it. "Deliver to: The Duke of Weaselton." Nick snorted and shook his head, " _This_  is his inside source?" he questioned out loud.

He almost moved on, when a mischievous grin split his muzzle. Turning to the crate again, and producing a pen from his pocket, he made a small correction to the parcel. "We can't have the wrong mammal get your goods now, can we Wezzelton?" he said before walking away with a very smug smile on his muzzle.

Getting back to business, Nick started to walk around and scan the various boxes for something of interest. Why did Mr. Big suggest he come here if it's just a standard black market with tons of various goods up for grabs? This would be quite the catch for a police raid but other than that, this didn't seem-

Then he saw it, further down the aisle a bit. It was the front end of a metal shipping container. ' _What's_ that  _thing doing in here?_ '

Cautiously walking up to it, he saw a lazily drawn paper sign on one of the dual doors that read, "Off limits to ALL personnel,  _including_  foxes."

Now Nick's interest was piqued, especially since this was clearly meant to be off the market but after trying to open the dual doors, he saw that it was padlocked. Well that wasn't going to stop him, so he pulled out his lock picking kit. Surprising even himself, in only a couple minutes, with a small  _click_  the lock became disengaged. Without a care in the world, he unlatched it and tossed it over his head and heard a consequent crash. "And he called  _me_ a noob. Can't even secure their goods properly."

After his small rant to the void, he opened the doors and stepped inside the container. After he let his night vision adjust to the even darker interior, his ears flattened and his eyes widened.

"Oooohhh sh-"

* * *

"Sweet cheese and crackers." Judy mumbled as she scrolled through another list of Google results from a newly refined search of "Scandals about predators in Zootopia twenty years ago." Unsurprisingly Google had quite a few articles in response to that inquiry, and they were not happy tales.

As Judy skimmed through a few she saw that the majority of them had to do with a savage attack but there were also, sadly, a number of other cases where it was reportedly predators lashing out at prey, but Judy figured that they were most likely provoked in those cases. She's witnessed enough times prey provoking and harassing predators to the point they would attack out of anger. But here she was getting distracted,  _again_.

For the past couple of hours, she'd been searching the internet for what Mr. Big alluded she should find out about to varying degrees of success. She originally started with searches on both Google and the ZPD server as vague as "what happened in Zootopia twenty years ago?" which of course was far too broad and didn't yield relevant information.

After getting distracted numerous times and refining her searches over a couple hours, Google finally figured out what this idiot was looking for. Apparently, what she was looking for all along fit under something called the ZGate conspiracies which spurred an (apparently) well known ZBI investigation upon the ZPD and Zootopia's City Hall. There were an innumerable number of sites dedicated to different versions of the conspiracies and surrounding speculations. There were so many different articles and blogs written about them and the investigation that it blew Judy's mind she hadn't heard about either of them before.

Well she thought she hadn't heard of them at least. As she started to read, several of the conspiracies Judy imagined were the ludicrous theories that Nick spoke of earlier, as some of them were incredibly ridiculous and irrational. Aliens. Ancient artifacts. A secret group of people controlling the city with plants and advanced Biochemistry (that admittedly went well over her head).  _Pffft, yeah right._  She scoffed upon reading that one.  _As if this could all ultimately be blamed on a flower._

But one of them finally struck a bit of a nerve.

It was a theory based off biology and evolution. Something Judy had learned in school was how predators used to "survive off their aggressive hunting instincts" and it was theorized that predators were returning to their primitive savage ways for reasons outside of a contagious pathogen. As one such blog suggested, some sort of sociological phenomenon could be the cause.

But then Judy was reminded of Moliere's theorizing there wasn't an outside cause. Which as it turns out was quite a hot topic among experts and conspiracy theorists.

As she continued to scour the internet for information, the theory that predators were returning to their primitive ways remained in the forefront of her mind. She wasn't the only one who couldn't drop that line of thinking however. That theory came up many times in more credible sources like The Guardian, and was even referenced by the mayor in a press conference at the end of the whole debacle when the case was announced cold and was dropped. Which, another credible news article pointed out, could have had a lot to do with the implication of the TAME system.

That theory seemed to be the most popular one and, if it were alone in the blame, it almost single handedly caused Zootopia to become so paranoid and afraid of predators that they were to be forever prejudiced and subjugated via the TAME system... Was all this what Mr. Big wanted her to know about?

Judy was brought out of her musing by her desk phone ringing. Without looking away from the screen she picked it up and answered with a hollow, "Hello?"

"Hey Judy, it's Ben from downstairs," said a chipper and a slightly higher than normal pitched male voice. She immediately lit up so much it was as if she'd drank several cups of coffee at once.

She had called him a couple hours ago in response to learning about the investigation the ZBI conducted. There had to have been dozens of reports filed during and after the case had ended from both the ZBI's investigations and the ZPD's internal affairs. But when Judy did a quick search on her computer for specifically the ZGate conspiracy, nothing came up, which was more than a bit conspicuous.

In a stroke of intuition, Judy surmised that even if there were no digital copies of the report, there could still be physical ones. And if her hunch was correct, and some higher-grade mammal decided to hide the investigation, ' _Looking at you, Chief Bogo_ ', then the copies would be buried in some box under a rug down in records. Coincidentally, that's where the only mammal working at the ZPD that she considered a friend was posted. Funny how life works, huh?

"Oh, hey Ben. Did you find anything?" Judy chirped back.

"Well, I got a strange hunk of information for ya Judy." He paused and Judy could hear him talking to someone in the background along with the sound of shuffling papers. She shifted in her chair in anticipation. "Sorry about that hun. Anyways. So, what's weird is that there  _was_  a hard copy of a whole bunch of documents pertaining to the ZGate conspiracies, but they no longer exist."

Judy frowned and furrowed her brows. "Well then how do you know they  _did_  exist?"

"Cause we keep logs of everything. But don't despair, for I have found a locked pdf file containing one or, heck, maybe all of the original documents. What it was doing on its own private server-network-thingy I have no idea, but it requires the credentials of an Officer so I can't view it. I'll send you a link for it to your email."

"Oh, thank you so much Benji, you're a hero!"

He laughed bashfully. "Heh, yeah, just...glad I could help for once. Keep in touch Jude."

After she hung up, she opened her email, and double-clicked on the only one she hasn't checked yet. Once she clicked on the link she was then asked by the computer to enter in her officer's credentials like her badge number, name, date of birth etc. After the computer chewed on it for a few agonizingly long moments, she was let in and she widened her eyes at how large the document was. It was over a hundred pages!

Getting over her initial shock for the size of the file, she started scrolling through it, trying to find the most important parts, rather than reading the whole file. That would take hours, and her patience was already worn thin from the countless searches on the internet. After the initial protocol jumble regarding the case flew by, her attention was caught by the two sigils cresting the next page shoulder to shoulder. The ZPD shield and the ZBI crest were prominent on the head of the page.

Knowing she'd found what she was looking for, Judy started reading more attentively. The entire internet wasn't lying, an investigation had in fact been conducted by the ZBI regarding both the ZPD and City Hall. And the fact a government agency got involved in this so-called conspiracy made Judy very cautious about what she was reading.

Reading further in, she discovered that the investigation was led by two agents identified only by their initials: Agent J and Agent R. She scoffed lightly at that. ' _What, do they think this is some kind of spy movie?_ ' Moving on from her little inside joke, she discovered that the two agents were apparently held at high regard. Spotless field record and countless solved cases that were deemed impossible to crack by their colleagues made for an impressive curriculum, and the reason they were appointed to this case; they were undoubtedly the best of their time. Judy had to wonder how on earth this case managed to go cold with them on it.

Skimming through a number of "case files" reported by J&R detailing what they were doing and why, she came across a rather light-hearted section detailing some dialogue of a night after they got off from J's point of view. Why it was included she had no idea, but she read on with a smile.

" _Ha, man, remember when we were in Zoo York a few years back and you briefly dated that vixen with that red dress... what was her name? Jasmine... Bella?" I had asked joyfully as I admittedly had a few drinks in me._

" _McKenna." He said despondently looking off into the distance. I struggled to keep smiling, but I knew it'd pay off if I kept it up. It always did._

" _Yeah well forget about her man," I said clapping him on the back. "You know it wasn't a good match, and since when would you be one for settling down? Need I mention Mar-"_

" _Oh, don't you dare." He said with a chuckle finally escaping and reaching out to sip on the drink I slid in front of him ages ago. "Should I start calling you what that one badger did?"_

_I laughed loudly. And he was back! "Touché mate." We both chuckled and a few peaceful moments passed during which I drank and he sipped._

_Then he said what I feared was on his mind and the cause of his downer mood. "No, I don't plan on settling down mate you know me better than that, but... this case." I lowered my drink and sent him a warning look that went unnoticed. "I think there's something… much more here than we're giving it-"_

" _Oh, give it a rest." I interrupted, doing my best to dismiss it once more. This was perhaps the fifth time that he'd-_

The report went onto an analyzation of the conversation and why it was mentioned but Judy moved on to more important sections. As she scrolled, she went past several interviews and questionings, fiber and DNA tests, past a...  _wait what_? A joint ZPD-ZBI raid on the Cliffside Hospital?! Judy furrowed her brow and returned her full attention to the document.

Reading on, after the raid yielded no results, it was followed by J&R led accusations of Bogo tipping off their opponents. Followed by reports from multiple sources of tensions rising between the ZBI and ZPD. Bogo and the ZBI director having a few rows. J&R having disagreements that were becoming increasingly heated, both at work and outside... The whole thing was going to hell!

Judy was about three quarters of the way through the file and her heart was pounding in her chest when she saw a report from the ZBI director himself. It apparently all came to a crescendo when they got a tip off from an anonymous source regarding-

**Please Enter your Officer Credentials:**

The red pop-up flashed on her screen. Judy scowled at the computer for its horrendous timing and shrugged off the oddity of why it was asking her to do so again, typing in her information once more.

**Authentication Error: You are not authorized to view this document**

"What?! Urgg you STUPID computer. Since when!?" Judy screamed at the mutinous monitor.

"Since one minute ago," responded a friendly sounding female voice emanating from her computer speakers.

Judy immediately froze and sat there dumbfounded. The computer just responded to her. A few moments passed where all she heard was her still heavily beating heart and other officers typing away or on calls. Finally regaining her bearings Judy slowly asked, "Whu- Why did you just respond?" feeling immensely silly for talking to a computer.

"Protocol. Upon emphasis of the word 'computer' or 'Cortana,' I listen and wait for your command."

"So... the mic is always on then if you can hear me when I say that?"

"It is no different than your phone or any other device capable of receiving voice commands, if you are worried about your privacy," the voice, or Cortana rather, aptly responded in a chipper voice.

Judy _hmm-_ ed and thought for a moment. Despite the computer's assurance her privacy was no different, Judy was still thankful she hadn't had any private conversations in here.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Judy spoke up again. "Computer. Who last made changes to the security settings of this file?"

"Adrian Bogo, Chief of Police in Precinct One. Would you like to contact him?"

"...No." Judy quietly answered. She had somewhat expected him to be the culprit and even before she got her paws on this document she dreadfully anticipated he'd interfere, but that coming to reality was still a bit of a shock. She had the right to view this! So why w-... before she even fully formulated the question in her mind, she answered herself.

_Of course Bogo wouldn't want her to know about this if he was in on the corruption!_

As if her private musing summoned him, her desk phone started ringing again, and Judy had already an idea of who was calling her. Her brows forming a straight line, and her mouth pursed in annoyance, Judy picked up the receiver and kept it a reasonable distance from her sensitive ears. Chief Bogo's voice echoed through her cubicle the entire floor. "HOPPS! Get in my office! NOW!"

Suppressing an angry sigh, Judy heaved herself from her chair, and ambled towards her destination. Knocking more out of habit than out of respect for her boss, the gruff voice of the buffalo urged her to enter.

Now inside his office, Judy could see just how angry he was. For the first time since working here his stare didn't faze her, and she responded with a glare of her own. "Sit," ordered Bogo.

She did so without breaking eye contact, never once dispelling her icy glare. "You are not allowed to view that document Hopps as that contains confidential information regarding both the ZBI and the ZPD."

"And many other things that I'm sure  _you_  wouldn't want to be known," retorted Judy icily.

A vein had started pulsating on the buffalo temple. "Don't test my patience Hopps. It would take little effort for me to change the deal we made from transferred to  _FIRED!_ " the Chief threatened.

Judy didn't even flinch at the threat and she remained to be stoic. Behind her stone face, the possibility of actually getting fired was being processed in earnest though. Surprisingly, the idea didn't affect her as much as she would've thought an hour ago. In a couple of brief seconds, all the months she'd spent at the precinct came to mind. All the snide comments, the sexist and speciest insinuations, the fact that no one in there really believed she could be an officer, the general displeasure she'd experienced being here. Realizing all this, she concluded that being fired might not be such a big deal to her anymore.

Her lack of response was a bit of a surprise for Bogo too. He waited for her to flinch, to try to douse the fire or even rile it up like how their arguments usually unfolded. But this time, she just sat there with such a dark glare on her miniature bunny features he was drawn into it so much he forgot how small she was. Why did she look so...? Not upset but... Bogo couldn't place his finger on it. Disappointed? Disapproving? Scornful?

He had to admit, it made him feel uneasy and his glare was turned down a noticeable notch or two.

For quite some time, the two glared at each other and a silent war between ice and fire was fought. (Maybe a song should be written about it) But for once, it was Bogo's will that was starting to crack. He hated being looked at like... that.

Finally, a small change in her body language alerted him that she was about to speak. "Why did you change the security clearance for that file?" she asked, her voice stiff and emotionless.

"I told you already Hopps, there is sensitive information in there that a normal officer shouldn't have access to. If that information got out again, we would be in a sea of trouble."

"Again?" the bunny asked with a raised eyebrow. Bogo grumbled for a moment at the slip up. ' _Damn detail oriented bunny..._ '

"When the whole mess started, a newly recruited officer,  _just like you_ , was stupid enough to blabber about it to his girlfriend at the time. The next day, the precinct was surrounded by the press asking about what was happening. I am  _not_  risking something similar happening again. I don't need the ZBI sticking their noses up my tail in these chaotic times after one of my officers made  _classified_  information public knowledge. So you best keep your cute little tail out of things you know nothing about Hopps."

' _Well of course I know nothing about it, you want to keep it that way,_ ' Judy bitterly thought.

"If the information in those files is so important, why was there a copy that any officer could access?" she asked, seeing a fault in his reasoning.

"There  _wasn't._ " Bogo growled. "You somehow managed to find the only existent copy. At some point, shortly after the case was dropped against us and City Hall, there was a security breach in our systems and not only were all the physical copies regarding the case destroyed, but so were any digital ones. The only reason that file still exists is due to the ZBI having backup copies that we transcribed into our database and kept as a separate and hidden file for precaution."

Bogo's stare now became accusing, "Which begs the question: How the hell did you manage to find it? It was in its own private server for heaven's sake!"

Even if her face didn't change from her seemingly permanent glare, her body language betrayed a slight hesitation on her part. That was a very pertinent question, one that she couldn't answer without throwing Ben under the bus. If it was any other officer, she wouldn't have thought twice about it, but Ben was the only thing resembling a friend in this place.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to try and somehow dodge the question, her left butt cheek started vibrating. For a tense few moments, they both listened to the phone violently vibrating vying for her attention.

When it finally subsided, and after clearing her throat she started talking with as much strength as she could muster so her voice didn't shake. "Well, you see Sir, I-"

Once again, her phone interrupted her and started vibrating. Sparing it a few thoughts, she was becoming curious who that was. It couldn't be her parents as it wasn't night, unless it was an emergency of course... Or maybe it was-

Her eyes slightly widened as she realized who it probably was. "Sorry sir, but permission to take that call? It's likely related to the Wilde case."

Bogo's left ear flicked. Her phone was surely about to be on the last buzz. She  _really_  needed an answer about right now. Then he subtly nodded towards her pocket.

She quickly and gratefully whipped the phone out of her pocket and hit the green Accept button without even looking at who it really was and made to stand up and walk out. But before either end could speak Bogo grunted, "Stay in this room. I'm not done with you yet."

Somehow whoever was on the other end knew not to speak yet and Judy sent him a hateful look for the indecency. Not taking her eyes off him, she spoke into the phone. "Hello?"

"Carrots," Nick whispered urgently, "There you are, you have  _got_  to hear what I just found."

"N-Nathan," Judy sighed as she gripped her face, finally breaking eye contact. Her eyes were gonna become sore at this rate from the lack of blinking. "This isn't really the best time." A long pregnant pause passed then as Nick was likely figuring out why she called him Nathan.

"Ok, well uh, you need to hear it anyways, this is really crucial. I delved into what our mutual friend hinted for me to, and I found the supposed Fox's Den within an Amazon warehouse. This would be one heck of a crime bust... but anyways, that's not what's important.

"There's like an  _entire_  container filled with riot gear for the ZPDhere. Gas grenades, riot shields, armor, the whole shebang." Judy stiffened and turned to head of the ZPD with wide eyes, who shot her a curious look with a slight head tilt in response.

"Hopps," Nick spoke even softer than before and as if reading her mind said, "This stuff is  _not_  going to you guys. It'll most likely end up in The Surge's paws unless we do something. How did they even  _get_  all this stuff?"

Again, Judy couldn't fathom a response and sat there absolutely stunned with her mouth slightly agape. "Judy, something big is going on here," Nick added.

"Just...hold on one second, Ni-Nathan," she finally said, then looked at Bogo. "Chief, can we continue this later? Something important just came up."

Bogo was immensely curious why Hopps suddenly looked like she saw a ghost, but if it had to do with catching that blasted fox...

"Fine. Get out." She happily obliged.

After the door clicked shut, Bogo stood up and looked out the window that overlooked the park where he could see a group of predators congregating for what he strongly hoped, even if in vain, wouldn't be a protest right in front of the ZPD building.

Shaking his head at the all the chaos going on these days, he turned back to his desk again. Sitting down in his chair with a grunt, the Chief picked up the receiver of his phone and punched in an all too familiar number. After two ring tones, whoever was at the other side of the call picked up, but remained silent.

Heaving a heavy sigh and gripping his face, much like Hopps did a few minutes earlier, Bogo lowly spoke, "We got a problem."


	10. Animal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... wow, yeah, hi guys! It's been a long time. This chapter was... phenomenally hard to write. And that mixed with the lack of proper motivation to push through it is what took so gosh darn long to write it. This chapter is kind of like the climax of an act if I were that organized in the beginning to have created acts for my story. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say the story is just shy of being half way done and I refuse to give up on this story because I personally think it's just gonna keep getting better.
> 
> Anyways, so! Big thanks to my new friend Kharonreaper for working so diligently on editing this chapter. He's been a huge help in cleaning up the mess that was this chapter. And on the mention of editors, while I have him and uomoape, because of vastly differing schedules between all of us, if anyone else wants to become an editor for me, I'd love the additional help! Just send me a PM if you're interested.
> 
> And one more note. I just can't seem to write short chapters to save my life XD This chapter and the soon upcoming chapter 11 were once combined in my master document before I stepped back and realized how much was going on and decided to split them. At 9.4k words for just part 1, yeah it's a bloody good thing that I did that lol.
> 
> Please do review and tell me what you think of all my hard work. Hope you enjoy!

"Who's corrupt?!"

"The ZPD!"

"Who was supposed to 'protect and serve', but never has?!"

"THE ZPD!"

"Who chooses sides in this war when they're supposed to be unbiased!?"

"THE ZPD!" screamed the crowd as loud as they could in response. The entire Central Zootopia park was now filled with mammals yelling and protesting in chorus. The speaker had only been at this a couple hours and the crowd was veritably 'foaming at the mouth'!

Said speaker now looked triumphantly over the massive crowd of mammals. What had started as a large group of predators had surprisingly developed into a mixture of prey and predator (though the prey were staying on the outskirts of the crowd and keeping to their own kind). Word that the ZPD were now unequally protecting both prey  _AND_  predator had really fanned the flames.

Perhaps there truly was hope behind this cause, the tiger thought for a moment. All these mammals were shining light on the darkness that so many were trying to hide; everyone here was pointing out the truth that so many couldn't see, or refused to.

This was the true battle that needed to be fought. It was no longer about prey versus predator but rather the common mammal versus the corruption of the city, which admittedly was mostly prey, but so many prey were here today... maybe The Surge should start expanding their horizons. Not that that was his call to make.

"That's right. The ZPD!" He continued. "For those of you who may not have heard, last night one of our fellow predatory brothers was provoked, yelled at and verbally abused by an anonymous equine. When he finally had enough and fought back, guess what happened next? The ZPD's famous first bunny officer came to the rescue of said horse and our beloved Mr. Manchas was chained, muzzled and locked up by the CED!"

"BOOOOOOO!"

Delgato grinned. This was too easy. He could see why The Hood enjoyed doing this. It made him feel powerful, whatever you say is understood, believed and repeated with even more conviction.

Looking through the crowd closest to him, many of which were holding signs depicting  _exactly_  what they thought about the ZPD and their first bunny officer, he found The Hood.

Delgado almost laughed to himself as humorously enough, he wasn't wearing his grey sweater hood and because of that no one in the crowd even recognized him as the usual barker at these protests. Clearly,  _no one cared who he was until he put on the hood_. To everyone in the crowd, he was just another red fox.

A  _vividly_ red fox. One that actually kind of looked like a teenager with both his paws in the pouch of his grey sweater. But instead of looking like any teenager would, that this was the last place he'd rather be, he was looking around with that foxy grin of his, apparently pleased with the way things were progressing.

Delgato had never gotten a very good look at him as his trademark hood always cast a very concealing shadow, the darkness wrapping his muzzle like a mask. But as he stood amongst the crowd in broad daylight, his deactivated collar giving him the air of an average predator so he garnered no suspicion, Delgato really noticed how vibrantly _red_ his fur was. He wasn't a red fox so much as a Crimson one.

 _Maybe he should be renamed the Crimson Fox... nah that'd be boring,_  Delgato thought.

Making eye contact with him, The Hood nodded, a pleased smile curling across his muzzle, and made a gesture with his hands that said: 'Go on, you're getting there.' Delgato nodded back and the tiger began to pace between the protesters and the stairs of ZPD building as he thought of what to say next to rile the crowd.

Suddenly inspired, he smiled viciously as he imagined how the crowd would react. He sincerely hoped that Bogo and his precious Precinct 1 would be listening.

As it happened, there were several dozen officers and other ZPD personnel standing just inside the precinct doors listening in. Or trying to. Not all prey had the best of hearing, so those with better hearing like Francine the elephant were relaying what was transpiring to the others.

The responses from the Officers were all over the place. There were murmurs and quiet conversations going on all around the lobby, with all members debating their differing views on what was happening. Some were angry that The Surge had the balls to protest right in front of them, others were irritated that they were being accused of something they didn't do and both groups were throwing around specist slurs in their anger. But there were others who were simply shocked. Shocked and worried about the future of their city, such as Francine the elephant.

Francine was one of the senior officers at Precinct 1 and continued an exemplary record in the face of the increase in chaos in the city. Her coworkers snide and specist remarks bothered her, but she never stood up to it. Because, what was the point? On numerous occasions she witnessed Judy Hopps, the tough little grey bunny, stand up and make herself seem as tough as someone ten times her size, but little ever came of all that effort.

Now there were hundreds of mammals outside, loudly protesting a system that had been in place for nearly two decades. One that never seemed completely fair, but not completely unfair either. And mammals wanted that to change… But change was scary, and whenever The Surge was mentioned, Francine became nervous about what the future would hold if they ever became anything more than a protest group. Not afraid for her future, but for her little boy, Dumbo. The city he'd come to live in could be so different than the one she knows today.

No matter what happened with The Surge, something was going to change… And Francine was feeling very conflicted on what to think or how to feel.

A little further back, detached from the group in front of the doors, Alejandro was snickering. The donkey was surrounded by his two friends, a pig and a gazelle by the names of Wilbur and Gilbert respectively, the equine quietly laughed to himself as he reached his desk phone, "Oh, Bogo is gonna  _love_  this."

Upstairs in his office, Bogo was trying his absolute hardest to ignore the protest outside. He really shouldn't and didn't want to pay attention to it. He already had to deal with all the trouble the mayor was giving him. Between The Surge, the protests, some survey results on current satisfaction with the city and a few recent articles on the ZPD's relationship with City Hall or something, Bogo had really checked out at that point. It seemed like it was the Mayor's job to find things to complain about and unload it all on Bogo's poor ears. Sometimes he wished they would just fall off and render him deaf.

But the most aggravating of all was that  _apparently_ a pair of officersinterfered with CED business and the mayor was  _not_  having that. Bogo could only guess as to who  _that_  was, but he was mildly curious as to why she would mess with the CED just to find that damn fox. Who her partner in crime was though, he had no idea as a description wasn't given.

 _Beeep_  rung his desk phone. "Hey, Chief, there's something you should-"

Without even looking at it, Bogo pressed the intercom button down with a finger. "Not now." He grumbled.

"Sir, I understand you're frustrated but-"

"NOT! NOW!" He roared at the accursed speaker as he slammed the tiny button once for each word.

_Silence._

He was about to release a sigh of relief from the momentary peace and quiet when, "It's about Officer Hopps, sir."

After another beat of blissful silence, during which Bogo processed what the front desk receptionist said (whatever his name was) then turned a mildly curious look at the source of the voice.

* * *

Once Judy's meeting with Bogo abruptly ended due to Nick's phone call and revelation about what he found in the Fox's Den, Judy had been ready to book it to wherever he was. However, Nick swiftly stopped her with some very compelling points of logic. "The only bunny cop in Zootopia waltzing into the Fox's Den? Yeah, not the best idea I've heard today."

She tried to argue that she really wanted to see the evidence herself and investigate further, but Nick was adamant that, "You can't do any more good here Carrots. It's not like you're gonna bring ALL this evidence to the precinct, if that would even be the right place to take it."

"But-"

"I'm safe if that's what you're worried about, Fluff. I walked right back out just like I came in: without any trouble. The mammals here are probably used to random predators coming and going. The security guys gave me the eye, but as it's the  _Fox's Den_  and I'm a fox, they probably just made an assumption."

So here she was, sitting at her desk with her phone in one paw, her head resting on the other while listening to Nick as he told her about what he had been up to that morning and what he found. After he'd gone through it all, he patiently waited for her to take in everything.

Or at least... he  _was._  She'd been quiet for a while now. "Carrots?" he tentatively asked.

"So... so lemme just- let's just... ok so- hold on..." she stumbled as her mind continued to short circuit.

"Holding."

"Shush. So... lemme get this straight. Let's do a recap."

"Ok."

"We know from an inside source Bogo has in The Surge that they're possibly planning on doing some terrible things to the city. Maybe a weapon or something. We know that Mr. Big  _also_  had a source in The Surge but he was probably found out about and they turned on him.  _And_ now you just found there's a huge cache of police weapons and gear that The Surge will no doubt get their paws on. Not to mention all this has been happening while I'm on a 48-hour time limit to get my paws on  _you_  to bring you in for questioning in order to prove myself so Bogo will finally show me some respect!

Nick took a moment himself to process all that then slowly said, "Yeah... Yup, that just about sums it up."

Judy leaned back in her chair and sighed. "What're we going to do Nick? I'm trapped and we can't do anything about that cache of stuff! Bogo is probably involved in that and I can't go off and do something about The Surge today because I'm supposed to bring  _you_  in."

"Why do you need to prove yourself to them? You've already proven yourself to be far more capable than any officer I've met."

Judy softly smiled, touched by the sentiment. Her emotions must be rubbing off on him. "I've been over this already Nick. I am treated  _horribly_  here and with absolutely no respect. It's kinda why I could empathize with your mistreatment for being a fox. I'm usually cut out because I'm a bunny and so small and  _oh so cute._  Bringing you in was my last-ditch effort to gain some respect around here!"

The more she thought about that, the more she wondered: if she had brought Nick in without pause, would it have changed anything? She knew others had failed to catch him, but now it doesn't seem farfetched that if she had brought him in, they'd find a way to twist it so she still didn't deserve a scrap of respect.

"And what happens if you don't?" Nick softly pressed.

"The deal I made with Bogo was that-"

"Wait, you made a deal with the devil?" The red fox interrupted.

Judy snorted and laughed. "Yeah that was just about my thinking too. If I didn't catch you the deal was that I'd allow myself to be transferred to another precinct where I'll probably be treated just as bad, if not worse."

"Well, at least you won't be fired once the 48 hours are up or something dramatic." Nick supplied, trying to lighten the mood.

"At this point I can't say I'd mind all that much…" Judy mumbled in response.

' _Attempt failed. Would you like to try again?_ ' Nick drily thought. "I thought you said this was your dream job?"

"It was. But you saw me out there Nick. All Bogo had me doing is meter maiding and other useless activities the entire 9 months I've been here."

"You haven't done any actual police work this whole time?! Sheesh Carrots, I really can't fathom why you want to stay."

"Because I worked so hard to get here Nick! I was valedictorian of my class, first of my species and like I've said, I want to make the world a better place. I still think this is the place to do that though I haven't been able to do much good. So far, all I've achieved is getting dozens of mammals to point out how they feel about my parking tickets."

Nick fought the impulse to snicker and tried to wipe the grin from his face before he spoke. "Maybe so, but think about all the good you're doing now that you're working to stop The Surge."

"Would it do that much good though? We may be stopping them from doing some evil things, but we'd also be stopping a movement for predator rights. We don't even have that much proof, if any, that they're gonna do something bad."

"Carrots we've been over this-"

"No, we really haven't Nick. We've only gone off word of mouth from Delgato and our gut feelings that they don't seem to have the best intentions in mind. We don't have any actual evidence that they are evil unless you know something I don't."

On his end of the line Nick stopped, stiffening like a board before tersely responding, "No. Nothing like that Judy."

Nick winced. Even to him, that sounded suspicious. Then he sighed and looked off into the distance, a tortured expression twisting his features as he debated what to do. He was between a rock and a hard place! He could either reveal his involvement with The Surge, or he could continue withholding that information from her. Either case could be disastrous. Option one could cause Judy's trust in him to evaporate, thus killing their budding friendship. Option two would hide the fact that the Surge was basically a terrorist organization, not a rights movement. A rights movement that Judy was already having conflicted thoughts about being opposed to.

Before he could say anything, a small beep came from Judy's side and he furrowed his brow in wonder until a voice came a second later, "Hopps! Get. Back. Here."

Judy sighed in exasperation and pressed the reply button, "Chief, I've literally been at my desk since I left your office, there's no  _way_  I could've done anything to upset you."

"Trust me, you've done plenty. Get in here!" Nick and Judy both winced after the Chief loudly smashed the receiver back in place.

"Sounds like fun is in your future Fluff," Nick snarked.

"I don't think I've ever wanted somebody to leave me alone so badly," she deadpanned back. "You're welcome to join me! Having you there might actually make Bogo pass out." The thought of an unconscious cape buffalo made the fox laugh.

Once they said their goodbyes and agreed that they would meet up later, Judy headed toward Bogo's office. When she stepped outside of her cubicle however, she immediately noticed the distinct vacancy of the office around her. Where in the elephant's milk was everybody? Well at least this way she wouldn't come across anyone on her walk back to Bogo's office.

After lightly knocking on the door and opening it without waiting for a response, she walked in and was hit by a wave of deja vu.  _'Oh that's right,_   _I was JUST here an hour ago._

Sitting in the oversized chair once more, she looked at Bogo expectantly while he pretended to look busy by looking through some documents. Then, setting them down with a slow exhale, he spoke. "Are you aware there's a protest occurring on our doorstep?"

"What?!"

"Apparently not. They're protesting  _YOU_ Hopps. And by extension, the ZPD as a whole for your actions." Bogo accused as he leaned forward.

A look of pure confusion dawned on Judy's face, "Me?! Why?"

"Why indeed." There was a pause in his speech, and Bogo looked at Judy like he was trying to solve a puzzle. "What did you think you were doing last night Hopps? Interfering with a CED capture operation and insulting a high-ranking officer?! I gave you one chance to go and catch a criminal and this is what you do with it?!"

Judy was flabbergasted by this turn of events and had her briefly working her mouth wordlessly trying to get her mind back on track. "I've been chasing Ni- _Wilde_  this entire time! Last night I was trying to save lives. I saved one and almost saved a second! Are you against that sort of thing now?!"

Bogo quirked an eyebrow and slowly leaned back in his chair. He then took a calming breath and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Judy took a calming breath of her own and explained how when she got to the scene, no officers of the ZPD or the CED had responded to the call yet. She explained how she managed to get Manchas' attention away from the stallion and onto her and how she ultimately tranq'ed and restrained him. Omitting Nick's presence and involvement was difficult, but she got the point across: if she hadn't intervened the poor horse would be dead now.

Bogo was surprised by this to say the least, but he did his best to hide it. He had not heard this side of the story, and hearing that she fought a savage jaguar and lived to tell the tale was impressive for someone so small, he admitted begrudgingly.

After a few moments of thoughtful silence, the buffalo heaved a sigh. He had to concede the point. "I agree that what you did was nothing short of heroic, Hopps, but it was not your job."

"My  _job_  is to protect and serve. That's what I was _doing_. With integrity, trust, and bravery as this badge states," she said, tapping her golden badge with a finger. Bogo took a moment himself to admire not just the object, but what it represented.

He reminisced for a second on how he himself used to follow those same words as blindly as she did. But that was a  _long_  time ago. He now knew that the world wasn't that simple, but he had to wonder if one day he could return to that way of thinking.

Getting his thoughts back on the conversation at paw, he asked with honest curiosity, "I understand the choice you made to save his life, assuming what you told me is true, but why did you interfere with the CED's detainment of the jaguar Mr. Manchas once he was under control and the horse was safe?" He wasn't even looking for reasons to judge anymore, he wanted the full story now and somehow, Judy Hopps' tale was making far more sense than that of an irate pig.

Judy sensed both the shift in his tone and lack of malicious intent with the question, so she responded in kind, "As I said, I was trying to save a life. These attacks have been happening consistently for years, and as far as I'm aware they've never been thoroughly investigated. All the 'savage' mammals get sent to the Asylum, and no one has ever determined the cause, not officially anyway, just theories, so..."

Judy paused as she almost outright admitted she saved him so she could get answers and somehow, that didn't sound the best in her mind.

"So?" Bogo pressed.

"Well, what does it matter?" Judy rhetorically asked cynically while looking to the side. "The CED won in the end and brought him to the asylum anyway since nothing was found at the hospital."

For the first time since they'd met, there was a long quiet pause where no one said anything and both were enveloped in their own thoughts, with neither of them glaring at each other. As both her mind and eyes wandered, she glanced at the papers strewn about Bogo's desk. A couple mug shots of predators caught her eye, so she stood up to get a better look, with Bogo making no attempt to stop her.

After looking at what they were: reports of the "savages" incarceration at the Asylum, news reports, the mayor's old responses, she softly inquired, "And yet you're often looking into these attacks by what's on your desk, aren't you sir? I've seen reports like these before."

When Bogo gave her a half dubious half irritated look, she shrugged and said. "I've been in here a lot Sir."

 _Rather detail oriented, aren't you Hopps._ He mentally noted with a smudge of admiration. "Exactly Hopps. I  _look_  into them, I don't interfere with official CED business, nor do I interfere with an arrest. If I were to actually  _get_ involved, I'd have the mayor right up my tail telling me that is not the ZPD's concern," Bogo growled out.

"That must be frustrating..." Judy said, trying to empathize a bit. He nodded and Judy continued, "But if they don't want you searching for the truth about the savage attacks, or doing anything against The Surge, or looking further into the ZGate conspiracy, then how can you still believe we're in the right if we don't know what's actually going on?"

 _Ah,_  Bogo thought.  _That's what you're after._  "There isn't some hidden truth Hopps. The ZGate conspiracy and all that related to the savage attacks were dealt with and closed. The terrorists were handled and all ideas of foul play went cold due to a lack of evidence; what you're looking for simply  _doesn't exist._ "

"But if we're actually the bad guys and The Surge are the good-"

"The world isn't as black and white as you think it is Hopps!" Bogo interjected, the friction between them returning. "It's not light vs dark. There isn't just one side or the other. There are a million mammals out there, each one with their own beliefs and ideas on what is right and what is wrong. Our job is to protect them  _all_. We can't afford to pick sides."

"We can't  _afford_  to be forced into complacency either when there are so many problems to deal with."

"There  _aren't_  that many problems to deal with! The Surge is the only real problem these days and I can now add you to that list as you're the reason that mob is out there." Bogo yelled while pointing out the window behind him.

Clearly Judy was not going to convince him and she was beginning to understand why they always clashed. They simply had very different ideologies.  _And he refuses to wake up and realize that something about all this smells fishy,_  Judy added with venom

"Fine." She relented with a huff. This wasn't going anywhere and they were both wasting time. "Are we done? I still need to catch Nick by the end of the day, don't I?"

"...Nick? You mean Nicholas Wilde? That slippery fox that you're supposed to be catching?"

Judy stiffened slightly at her slip. She did not need Bogo to find out about her being on a first name basis with the person she was supposed to be bringing in. "Yes, that Nick. I got tired of calling him by his full name."

"I see..." Bogo dubiously remarked. "To answer your question, no I'm not done with you yet. As you were the one to bring the ZPD virtues up, do you know what integrity means Hopps?"

"Doing the right thing when no one is looking. Being honest regardless of if you'll be judged." Judy responded like she was reciting from a textbook. Seeing what he was doing, Judy tried to put the ball back in Bogo's court. "While we're on that topic Chief, do you know anything about the Fox's Den? I've been looking into it recently in relation to my search for Wilde."

Bogo clicked his tongue disinterestedly and allowed himself an eye roll. "I know of the urban myth. It's the ultimate black market and place for anyone wanting anything that they shouldn't have. There were several investigations into this in the past few years, but nothing ever came of them. Why?"

"What would happen..." Judy gave him a sly look, "if a large amount of police gear ever got into their hands?"

Bogo grunted and tried to change the topic. "We have more important matters to discuss than theoretical situations, Hopps. Namely that protest out there."

"Humor me for a moment, sir." Judy quickly responded, doing her best to force an answer from the cape buffalo.

"Nothing would happen, because that never _will_ happen. Why would you ask such a thing?" Bogo replied just as quickly with a tone that Judy couldn't quite place.

"But what if it did?" pressed Judy.

"It won't." Bogo firmly replied.

" _Sir._ "

" _Hopps._  Let. ." He growled, once more getting irritated with her. "Now, getting back on topic, that protest outside is  _your_  fault, so I am sending  _you_  out there to deal with your mess."

Judy's eyes widened for a second. Then she scoffed, "I'm not even going to bother with false pretenses sir, that is a really  _stupid_  idea. Send not only a bunny, but the officer they're condemning, to placate an angry mob of predators. What could go wrong?"

"I'm really itching to slam that FIRE button Hopps. Don't test me."

"Oh, get some new material." Judy snapped, rolling her eyes while one of Bogo's ears flicked. She was done with false pretenses. "You've been using that threat against me ever since I started asking to be assigned  _real_  cop work. Something you've vehemently resisted, because how dare I try to accomplish more."

"If you want to fire me so bad for trying to be more than a meter maid, well, here's your chance buffalo butt," Judy finished, more venom leaking into her voice than Bogo had ever heard as she unpinned her badge from her chest. She then walked to the edge of her chair, and slammed her badge down on the desk.

Bogo's features fell neutral as he sat there shocked for a few heartbeats staring at her, then her badge in turn. If anyone had told him that Judy Hopps would be so ballsy that she would slam her badge down on his desk and  _dare_  him to take it, he would have put them on psychiatric leave. Yet here she was, defiantly staring him down, having done just that. From what she'd told him, this job was her dream since she was a kit and yet here she was, throwing her badge in his face and telling him to take it.

It was the boldest thing he'd ever witness an officer do. Such boldness,  _some_ might say bravery, would be a fine quality in a cop. The admiration that went along with that thought was among a long list of emotions that flickered across his features as he waged an internal war on whether or not to officially take her badge.

The next emotion after admiration was confusion. This move was almost warranted in retaliation for a rather... questionable command. Had she brought this to Mammal Resources, as the manual suggested, there would probably be repercussions for him. Yet here she was, sticking it out - dare he say it? -  _like a real cop_. But this just seemed so... extreme… Even for Hopps. Was there more motivating this bold move that he was unaware of? That question then led curiosity and interest to show in his features as he continued his staring match with the golden shield.

' _But does the reason really matter?'_  The angry side of him spoke, ' _she's refusing an order and literally asking to be fired. So, let's do it. Finally get her out of our fur. No one could even question this as she's handing it over voluntarily. There's no reason to keep her.'_

' _Except the already large and still growing amount of evidence that, if we let her, she'd become an extremely capable cop,'_ countered the other side.

While Bogo's fierce internal war was waged, Judy stood in her chair and kept her gaze icy and furious. She saw the variety of emotions on Bogo's face, which  _was_ quite odd and would be humorous in another instance, but right now she simply didn't care. Judy was trying her hardest to keep herself from shaking from all the adrenaline pumping through her veins and the tension in the room was palpable and worsening.

' _Make. Your. Move.'_ She silently prompted.

Anger seemed to be winning inside Bogo as his features started to contort and twist almost maniacally and Judy prepped herself for the outcome she both expected and feared. But when had fear ever stopped her?

Bogo looked like he was about to explode from all the anger that was bubbling up inside him and... ' _Is he shaking?'_  Judy wondered with slightly squinted eyes. He looked like he was about to erupt like a volcano, his tightly clenched fists shaking on the desk. Judy expected any moment for him to smash the table into splinters.

Then finally all at once, Bogo let out a breath and looked away from the accursed badge, causing all tension in the room to vanish as his decision was apparent even before he spoke. "Keep it," he growled quietly his voice devoid of vigor. "I don't want it."

He just couldn't get himself to do it. Not after hearing both first and second-hand accounts of what she accomplished. Compounding that, she was digging into conspiracies, messing with the CED while simultaneously pissing off The Surge, which was something that still didn't sit right in his mind.  _Something doesn't add up there…_

Like Bogo, Judy released the breath she was holding and let her anger and physical tension dissolve. Reaching out with limbs stiff from being held rigid, she slowly retrieved her badge back and pinned it in its rightful place. Its familiar weight on her chest further easing the tension in her mind and body.

For a few moments, neither spoke and Judy awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to the other while Bogo continued to divert his gaze anywhere but at her.

"As punishment for your interference with the CED, combined with however indirectly causing this protest and your continued insubordination, I'm placing you on temporary leave."

"What?! But I'm on a case." Judy reasoned.

"You have proven what you are capable of in more ways than one. Which is part of the reason why I don't want you here right now. Times are chaotic right now Hopps. I don't need you interfering and making it worse than you already have. Besides, last I checked you haven't taken a single day off since you started."

After taking a moment to let the backhanded compliment sink in, a slightly confused Judy asked, "...So is this a vacation or a suspension?"

"Yes."

The corners of Judy's mouth twitched upwards as the snarky response reminded her of a certain fox. For just a moment she fondly reminisced on Nick and his antics but apparently Bogo wasn't having that.

"Go. I'll figure out how to calm them down without you so the CED doesn't show up."

Hopping down from her chair, she started to walk out when a question popped in her mind. "You don't like them either, do you Sir?" she inquired with a small amount of dry humor in her tone, slightly turning back to him.

Once again, Bogo averted his gaze from hers and said, "They certainly don't...  _help..._  defuse… situations... Much." But this time, Judy was wise to the Chief's admission and was both amused and surprised to note Bogo, while still looking away, cracked a small grin of his own. Unobserved, she let herself smile fully as she walked out the door and closed it softly behind her, with Bogo turning to watch her leave.

* * *

_Well, that was... That was..._

That was a lot to process. It certainly could've gone worse. Probably could've gone better if either of them had kept their cool. But, she could more or less confirm one thing, Bogo was definitely aware of, or had something to do with, the equipment Nick found at the Fox's den. And now she no longer had to worry about bringing Nick in as she was on a "temporary leave"... Whatever that meant.

' _Wait,_ ' she came to a sudden halt. ' _For how long?_ ' Bogo never specified. But it's not like she could go back into his officer and ask. That's just not allowed. So, she figured she'd just call in later or something.

Once she was downstairs, she paused for a moment as she looked at the large group of officers standing at the front doors. Beyond them was the protest she somehow caused by stopping the CED from bringing Mr. Manchas to the Asylum. ' _Ungrateful jerks.'_

She was about to turn away and walk out the side doors when she caught sight of a fluffy cheetah walking up from the lower level. He didn't look particularly happy, so Judy bounced over.

"Hey Clawhauser! What're you doing up here?" She asked, suddenly feeling more upbeat.

He stopped and turned to her and Judy's bright mood dimmed when she saw him looking glum. "Um... Chief Bogo just gave me my first real assignment... but it's… I'm supposed to  _deal with_  the protestors outside. He said that because I'm a predator and a very social one, I'd have the best chance."

"You have  _got_ to be kidding me! The  _ONE_  time I think he's starting to come around he turns the leaf  _back_  OVER and acts like a total specist sh-"

"Woah Judy, let's keep it PG rated. I'll be fine. While I may not appreciate the specism, he sorta does have a point. They might listen to me."

Judy relented with a slouch and huff. The key word there was 'might.' So, there was only one thing to do in her mind. "Then I'm going out there with you. I'm the one who caused a lot of this mess anyways.

Clawhauser was relieved to hear that he would not be going out there alone, but was worried about Judy's size versus a very large group of protesting predators. Which... she apparently... "Wait, what do you mean you caused this? The Surge have been protesting for some time now and you've been here all along."

"Yeah but I kind of..." Judy looked around to see if any other officers were listening and they were all still at the door, paying the pair no attention. "I kind of tried to save the jaguar from the CED after he went savage."

"Ok..." Ben blankly said. "You have to help me out here honey bun, I don't see how that puts you at fault for this."

"Well apparently they're protesting my involvement because it served as an example of the ZPD's unequal protection of predators."

"Well," Clawhauser said scornfully. "So much for gratitude."

"I  _know,_ right?!" She explosively exhaled, feeling frustrated as she stood with him and looked out the front doors past the group of ZPD personnel standing there, observing the crowd outside. "But before we try to do anything about the protesters, first we gotta get past them."

"Maybe I should..." Clawhauser said apprehensively, taking a half step back.

"They're not gonna do anything Benji, they're just a bunch of talkers. They might even be afraid of you." She paused as she realized how that might sound and quickly added on, "Which of course is silly but I mean we-"

He chuckled lightly. "It's all good bun bun. Even as a predator, I'm the least scary one out there. I'm just a big donut eating flabby cheetah that's as slow as a sloth."

"Come on Benji, you are so much more than that. I think compared to most of those lazy bums," she motioned at the officers over her shoulder with her thumb, "you're one of the most capable cops here."

He turned to her and when Judy looked up into his eyes she saw the beginning of tears already showing. "You really mean that...?" He choked out.

Judy blinked. He was even more emotional than some  _bunnies_ she knew. "Yeah, and trust me, you are  _not_  as a slow as a sloth. Having met some, I can say that now."

"Heh, I'll take you word for it."

She nodded with a smile and then turned to face the crowd of ZPD personnel. After a deep breath to prep herself, Judy stalked forward with Ben following close behind her.

Without any intention of stopping, Judy called out, "Coming through guys!" In the hope that those who heard her over the noise of the protest would part. They didn't.

The whole mass of prey officers including but not limited to zebra, deer, hippos, elephants, and rhinos turned to the familiar voice and laughed.

"You can't seriously be thinking about going out there are ya Hopps?" Challenged a goat who was feeling brave at the moment. "You'll be eaten alive out there! Lit-er-al-ly."

"Um... yeah that is what we were-" Clawhauser tried, then stopped, seeing that his presence was hardly noticed.

"Yes. We are going out there. What about it?" Judy spoke over.

"What makes you think you're gonna do any good?" Spoke up a pig with a goatee. "They're just gonna laugh at you cause you're a bunny and keep on complaining."

"That's why Clawuhauser is here, the chief thinks they might listen to him. And I'm not letting him go out there on his own!" Judy wanted to speak further and say something along the lines that 'at least we're going to actually do something unlike you lot' but she knew that'd just start a fight.

A few doubtful murmurs and cross looks passed between them as they all judged her probability of success. She was about to retaliate further when another new feminine voice spoke up. "Then you two aren't going out there without me."

All heads turned to the source. It was Francine the elephant. As they all stared at her in shock, she met each of their gaze evenly, challenging any of them to say anything.

Then she turned to look at Judy and gave a small nod and an encouraging smile then looked at the unfamiliar cheetah. "Clawhauser was it? I assume you work down in records with the other preds?"

Ben simply gave a nervous nod and for some reason, this made Francine smile more under her trunk. "Chief's right, they might listen to you. Come on." Physically pushing her way through if they didn't move on their own accord, Francine opened the doors and walked out with Judy and Ben following.

The trio stood at the top of the stairs with the ZPD behind them and the massive crowd of protesters in front of them, each of them suddenly getting a grasp of how far they were in over their head.

The noise of the crowd broke over them like a wave. The sound of hundreds of predators, and even some prey off to the sides, was nearly loud enough to make Francine and Judy want to cover their more sensitive ears.

They needed a plan. They needed a plan right now, and without Judy even noticing, both the elephant who was many times her size, and the cheetah who could be considered a far fiercer animal, both looked to the strongest mammal they knew: the little grey bunny Judy Hopps.

Letting out a small breath, Judy began to take action and noted that the mammal in front of the crowd was a tiger. If she couldn't get him to listen to them, no one would. ' _Cut off the head of the snake..'_

"Francine," she said without breaking eye contact. "Can you do the trumpet thing loud enough to get their attention?"

The elephant grinned. She'd never gotten the chance to see how loud she could truly blow her trunk. "Can do. Both of you might wanna cover your ears though."

Once they did so, Francine sucked in a huge breath and blew as hard as she could through her trunk creating a deafeningly loud trumpet. Even with their ears covered, Judy and Ben grimaced.

As the sound traveled over the crowd for a few seconds as she blew, like magic, the overpowered voices disappeared while mammals either covered their ears or wondered what in Zootopia that was about.

When Francine was finally out of air and breathed in heavily, the air around them was incredibly silent. Seeing her chance, Judy projected her voice with as much authority as she could muster and said, "Ladies and gentelmammals, please listen! We here at the ZPD understand-"

"You understand nothing!" The tiger in the front immediately countered. "The ZPD is entirely made up of prey, yet you have no idea what it's like to be prey!"

"YEAH!" The crowd vehemently agreed.

"We are not here to have a philosophical debate with you all, we're just here to keep the peace! We recognize-"

Oh boy, did that do it. At once, the tiger in the front, a multitude of mammals in the frontlines, and even a few preys started broadcasting their own opinions and thoughts.

Francine took matters into her own paws and blasted the crowd with another trumpet before things spiraled out of control. Judy made to speak again, but another voice beat her to the punch.

"LISTEN TO US!" Clawhauser roared.

If Judy's jaw could've dislocated, it would've hit the floor. Clearly, most of the crowd within earshot was just as surprised as they actually obeyed and the park was even more silent than it was when Francine first blew her trunk.

Caught off guard by the results of his sudden outburst as well, Clawhauser stumbled and tripped over his words for a moment or two. "Uh...Hi. Um." He stole a quick glance down at Judy who continued to stare up at him in surprise, then he seemed to collect himself and turned back to the crowd with a stern expression.

Gone was the friendly, smiley cheetah that Judy knew. This was an only business and serious side of him she'd never seen. ' _See Ben, I knew you were capable of more,'_  Judy thought before she was pulled from her inner monologue as Ben started to speak again.

"I understand  _exactly_ where you're coming from! Yes, the ZPD is not perfect and the CED is just plain villainous, but that's exactly why you must disband! RIGHT NOW! Enough of you should recall what happened the last time riot groups and protesters started a movement. It only made things worse! The CED is probably already on their way here. I don't want to see anyone here hurt!"

"The Surge won't fail like others have." Delgato countered. "It is said that it's 'the strength of ones' convictions that determines success not the number of followers, and our convictions have never been stronger. And we have the numbers too anyways!"

"The numbers to do what exactly? Start a street war with the CED? You don't want to all be arrested do ya?"

"It's better than doing nothing! Once The Hood's plans are complete, we're gonna see some huge changes to this city. Just you wait! You and your precious ZPD will be brought to true justice! And don't make the mistake of thinking we don't have the power to! We've all gone through more than enough years of this nonsense. If you're going to protect one of us from the villainy of the CED, protect all of us! But you won't! You're all pawns of the corruption! So we will use whatever methods necessary to bring you, your corrupt ZPD and this rotten city down upon your thick heads!"

"I'm not  _for_  the ZPD!" Clawhauser countered to everyone's shock. Judy and Francine both looked over with wide eyes. "I've been doing my best to help you guys where I can! And I'm trying to do so now. So please, for the good of everyone here, you  _must_ leave!"

Breaking off from listening to the endless debate, Francine lowered herself a bit to speak to the rabbit that barely reached her knees. "Judy, they're predators and will probably never listen to ZPD, much less prey officers. But the prey that have shown up might."

"There are prey here?!" She replied, shocked and tried to crane her head to locate any prey mammals.

"There's pockets of them on each side of the crowd. Benefit to being so tall."

"Alright then, new plan." Judy spoke quietly to not disturb the argument that Ben was still having with the lead tiger. "Maybe we can convince them instead to get out of here and if we're lucky, it'll domino and more mammals will start to follow them and leave. You take the ones to the right, I'll go left."

"Yes ma'am." Francine said with a nod.

Judy had taken a step, but came to an abrupt halt at the sign of respect and turned back to say something, but Francine had already taken off, so she followed suit.

While Judy made her way around the crowd, she looked back to Ben, suddenly aware that she didn't directly communicate with him what was going on. Clawhauser however, wasn't concerned as he kept on trying to convince the leader to tell everyone to disband.  _Great job Benji_ , she mentally praised.

Once Judy jogged up to a crowd of prey that eyed her carefully as she approached, she spoke. "You're all very brave, and good citizens of Zootopia to come here. But, I must ask that you leave before things take a turn for the worse."

"What's the worst that could happen Officer Hopps?" Rumbled the deep voice of a koala in a suit.  _What's with small mammals and deep voices?_  Judy mentally quipped. "The CED is what you warned them of, but that's the Collar Enforcement Division. A  _division_  of the ZPD. Not only are we not wearing collars but shouldn't the ZPD have control of them and therefore-"

"Sir," Judy interrupted, exhausted with all the arguing that she'd been doing today. "This isn't just about the CED. This is about The Surge and the predators who follow them. They're-"

"They're right about you guys! If even the famed Judy Hopps has become jaded, then their cause really is worth fighting for." The koala firmly stated, with various prey mammals surrounding him nodding their heads in agreement.

Across on the other side of the plaza, Francine was having no greater amount of luck with convincing the prey to leave. All three members of the ZPD were only doing their best to keep everyone safe and were becoming increasingly frustrated by the thickness of the skulls in the crowd.

Ironically, the one who had listened the most and was already acting, was the true head of the snake. The Hood. But this wasn't due to the three speakers of the ZPD. No, although the appearance of the officers turned spokesmammals did peak his interest, particularly the cheetah and his mention of helping them. What coerced him into action was receiving a simple text on his phone that vibrated in his pocket just a couple minutes before the three appeared.

_Sirens._

Progress was frustratingly slow as to find The Surge members and tell them to dissolve the protest, he was forced to work his way through a sizeable, rowdy crowd of mammals. While few mammals would listen to official Surge members, there still wasn't a whole lot that a few authority figures could do about a crowd this large in a short amount of time.

As The Hood made his way to the back of the crowd, he found the racoon he was looking for conversing with some other predators and telling them to leave. "RJ!" He called out. The raccoon immediately looked up and with a last word to the citizens, he ran over.

"Send up a red flare." RJ's eyes widened and was about to question it but The Hood cut him off before he could speak. "It's our only chance of getting most of us out of here. They're on their way."

RJ somberly nodded and reached into the golf bag hanging from his back and got to work. The Hood was about to warn others when he heard it. The sound of sirens approaching.

_Shit._

"Hurry!" He cajoled the raccoon.

More and more predators all throughout the crowd started hearing the sirens and the noises started changing from angry to worried. Only now were mammals starting to disband and leave since trouble for them was actually-

"Gah! Ah... ugh." Gasped out a male lynx that The Hood passed.

Rubbing the back of his neck with a paw then inspecting it, the feline mumbled, "What the...?" His hazel eyes snapped up to The Hood's vibrant red ones for a moment and The Hood tilted his head curiously in return.

The cat's actions then took a frightening change. His eyes scrunched together while he grabbed his head with both paws and started shaking it and as the fox watched in increasing concern, the predator grew worse and worse to the point that a low growl started to escape his throat. "Noooo. No no no. Not me, why me?!" The lynx cried out as he dropped to his knees with his, and the fox's fur starting to stand on end.

The Hood had a hunch of what was happening before his very eyes but didn't want to believe it. "Uh, buddy...? From one predator to another, are you-"

Before he could say anything else, he heard several other predators gasp in pain around him. Like a machine gun mowing down soldiers, a dozen or so other mammals gasped out as well and rubbed the spot that they were hit.

The Hood's eyes were drawn back to the lynx as he dropped to all fours while furiously scraping and rubbing his head on the ground and full on growling now. Those around him who weren't also hit by... whatever it was, heard the commotion and started to give the lynx extra room, only to find themselves closer to another mammal that was acting in the same fearsome way.

 _Oooooh no_. The Hood's eyes widened as he fully accepted what was about to happen. "Everybody RUN!" His loud booming voice certainly got the attention of all around him but they were also more concerned with the predators that were starting to act a little too crazy for their liking.

As if the dung hadn't already hit the fan, a whole convoy of CED vehicles screeched around the corner with their sirens at maximum volume. The CED had officially arrived and would soon be piling out of their trucks in full riot gear.

Before The Hood could do anything in regards to either threat, the lynx made eye contact with him again and the fox's gut did a somersault. The feline's eyes had become slits and with his hackles fully risen, he was ready to pounce.

The Hood reacted just fast enough as the savage cat pounced to fall onto his back and stop him with his front paws and kick him up and over himself.

Mass panic erupted as every afflicted predator attacked anyone within reach, regardless of if they were predator or prey. In contrast to a few minutes ago when the crowd was yelling in protest, now the air was filled with gut wrenching screams of terror as mammals sprinted away from the horrific scene or were themselves being attacked by a savage. And now with the CED charging in to either deal with the savages or every predator there, no one knew which, everyone ran from everyone.

The Hood struggled to get free of the crowd of panicking mammals as everyone scattered from the area as fast as they could, shoving, pushing and tripping over each other. Several times the fox was knocked over and nearly trampled as he tried to simply escape the crowd. When he finally emerged from the mass of mammals, with mammals running by and around him like a raging river around a stone, The Hood focused his gaze in the general direction that the shots came from that caused everyone to go savage.

 _There._ He found what he was looking for and narrowed his eyes fiercely.

"GO! Go go go! RUN!" Judy yelled as she pressed various prey to get a move on as the screaming started and mammals started scattering due to the CED and the savage mammals.

Once all visible prey were moving and running away from the scene Judy was about to make a beeline back to the ZPD building for shelter when she saw a female leopard down on all fours lock onto the escaping prey and prepare to hunt them down.

"No. No don't!" Judy desperately called out as the leopard loped toward the prey, gathering speed. Putting herself on a collision course, Judy sprinted towards the leopard and with a huge leap, kicked her off course with both feet like she did with Manchas.

This time however, the leopard barely tumbled a few feet before she used her claws to come to a screeching halt. Once the savage leopard properly regained her footing, she turned and hissed, furious with whatever just sent her off course. But instead of immediately charging her, this savage mammal identified her as a threat and started circling her. Judy circled as well, keeping her distance while she looked around for ways she could end this temporary standoff without anyone getting hurt. Remembering how she took care of Manchas, she reached for the tranq gun at her hip but realized she never reloaded it.  _Didn't exactly think this through._ She chided herself.

 _Acting on impulse again are we, Carrots?_  Snarked Nick's voice in her head as if he was standing next to her. She simultaneously wanted to tell that voice to shut up and wished with all her might that he was here to help her like last time.

Before she could form another thought, the leopard decided to chance an attack. So Judy did all that she could think of. She ran. And ran fast.

Her powerful legs sent her speeding across the park as she dodged, evaded, and avoided numerous other mammals who were also escaping the scene. Said escaping mammals suddenly had an urge to run faster as they saw and heard a furious leopard heading straight at them.

Veering towards a tree, Judy thought that perhaps if she changed directions sharply enough, the leopard might run into it. Climbing the tree simply wasn't an option, as the leopard would easily be able to follow her. Trying her hardest to add a little more speed, she prepared to jump and use the tree as a springboard to rapidly change directions.

Then right as she was about to leap and rebound off in another direction, a powerful force with a hint of sharpness swept out one of her legs and caused Judy to trip over her own feet and tumble at an alarming speed straight into the tree.

Judy slammed into the tree so hard that black spots formed on the edges of her vision and she fought to remain conscious for a moment. As her world spun, Judy tried to focus on the leopard that was now stalking towards her and desperately tried to back up, only to remember the tree. The tree that was supposed to be her salvation now had her cornered.

Just as her eyes began to refocus and her world stopped spinning, the leopard coiled her hind paws like a spring and leaped into the air with her claws fully extended and ready to land in the bunny's flesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhaaaannggeeerr! It was about time I did one of these. Heh, what did ya think? Dung really hit the fan huh? Tell me in your reviews. Oh and is anyone recognizing all these song titles? And because of that awful cliffhanger, I plan on getting Chapter 11 to you all MUCH MUCH faster than this chapter.


	11. Hysteria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, a new chapter and it hasn't been an eternity since my last update! Cliffhangers are fun aren't they? XD
> 
> So for anyone who's paying attention to the chapter titles, you'll notice that I'm cheating with my spree of one song per band. And this is for a fun fact, if you care. This is because Chapter 10 and 11 were once one and the same. I only decided to split them up after the planning stage and saw how much stuff was gonna happen. So it's like a part 1 and 2. Also because I couldn't decide which title to use for 10, Animal or Hysteria, so I used them both and it worked out well. I think. I'd be interested in hearing anyone's opinion after reading if you think the titles should switch XD
> 
> Ya'll will also notice this chapter is substantially shorter than usual and this is because of the above-mentioned reasons. Will any other chapter be this length? No idea. So I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Especially the ending part. ;) Hopp to it!
> 
> Edited by Kharonreaper. Uomoape is currently in the hospital so... Yeah.

Despite rolling into a tree at breakneck speed after getting tripped up by the leopard chasing her, Judy was still conscious enough to be perfectly aware of the leopard getting ready to pounce on her and finish her off. Thinking fast, she thought of another way to get out of the situation but she'd have to have perfect timing and needed the feline to move first.

As the leopard pounced with her gleaming sharp claws fully extended, Judy reacted just fast enough. Quickly placing all four paws on the ground, she coiled all her limbs and jumped straight up as high as she could.

Judy's timing was perfect. Right at the end of the arc of the felines pounce, her prey suddenly flew straight up and she was now heading head first for a very solid looking tree.

_THUD._

Unfortunately, gravity was still in effect and Judy had to come back down so after landing on the dazed leopards back, she hastily jumped off. Something Judy had not expected however was the sharp pain that exploded in her right leg as she landed, her momentum absorbing forward roll turning into a sloppy tumble of limbs.

Glancing down at her leg, she saw a couple fresh cuts on the side of her shin. Not particularly deep by the looks of it, it's not like she was a doctor, but blood wasn't dripping down any of them.

Movement caught her eye and she saw the savage female leopard about to attack once more. But this time, she looked  _pissed_ withherteeth fully bared, fur standing on end, and her tail looking like a giant pipe cleaner.

Judy felt a sense of detachment, seemingly removed from the situation as her mind processed the scene, quickly determining that she could not move fast enough to escape the leopard's attack, her body instinctively bracing for the coming impact.

If Judy had blinked, she would've missed what happened next. When the cat's claws were merely inches away from her, a weighted black net intercepted the leopard mid spring, just barely knocking her off course, and deposited the angry kitty in a heap, sliding to a stop next to the frightened rabbit.

Unbelievably furious with her second failure to capture her diminutive prey, the huntress roared and thrashed within her confinement, her claws reaching desperately for bunny flesh. As Judy feebly scooted away, desperate to put some distance between herself and the horrifying leopard, a zebra and a pig ran over to restrain the feline, with the former injecting her with something. A moment later she was out like a light.

Judy felt no surge of relief now that her attacker was dealt with but she did stop scooting away. The lack of relief probably had something to do with that her heart was still pounding on her rib cage so hard it felt like her chest was actually aching. As she sat there, still enthralled by the unconscious savage predator, her eyes were drawn to the shock collar around her neck and its red light. The red light that deactivated the collar so predators wouldn't be shocked to death when they go savage.

But now Judy could perfectly see why some mammals didn't agree with that system. They may save the predators life, but like her, if it wasn't for the CED, she'd be dead right now. Whoever created the collars and the surrounding system was stuck between a rock and a hard place with that one. Either allow the collars to electrocute predators to death, or endanger prey by not having anything to stop them. But Judy supposed, that's where the CED is supposed to come in.

"Officer Hopps, are you alright?" Shakily taking her eyes off the snoozing leopard, she met the kind eyes of a familiar looking zebra.

Before even assessing herself to answer that question, she swallowed a lump in her throat and looking around her as some mammals were still fleeing and CED officers were handling various savage predators. Most were already unconscious and were being dragged away into their black vans but some were still fighting capture like the lion who had two nets on him and was still swiping very dangerous pawfuls of claws all around him with CED officers figuring out what to do around him.

"Officer Hopps?" The zebra asked again with more concern evident in his voice and features as he kneeled down to her level. Was she in shock?

Judy slowly turned her gaze back to him and his name came back to her. "I'm alright Marty," She replied as she shakily stood up, keeping most of her weight off her right leg. "It's just a flesh wound."

Marty didn't even notice the cuts on her legs and was more referring to her mental state but it was always best not to press that sort of thing. "Well even if you feel alright, at least let the paramedics take a look and make sure you didn't catch anything contagious."

"It's not a disease Marty. They've ruled out the possibility that it's a contagious pathogen with research."

"What research? They're not studied at Cliffside or any other asylum." He challenged.

"Well... I read that on-"

"The internet? Come on, like everything that we read on the internet is true. We don't know what it is so let's be safe and get you checked out." Marty pressed, gesturing towards the area where teams of paramedics and first responders were helping anyone they could or sending them to the hospital.

As the pair walked to the area the paramedics set up, Judy was sad to note the number of wounded mammals that were being treated, waiting to be treated, or were being loaded into emergency vehicles. When she caught sight of a particularly bloody caribou being wheeled over to an awaiting ambulance, her mind returned to the damage also done to predators. How come none of them were being taken to the hospital?

"How come I haven't seen any predators being treated?" Judy asked looking up at him, stopping before they entered the designated area. The zebra didn't respond, but looked off into the distance. When Judy followed his eyesight, she saw several CED personnel speaking to a large crowd of predators.

"Marty..." Judy pressed. "What's going to happen to both the wounded and non-wounded predators?"

Instead of responding to her, he called out for a doctor and a beaver brought her over to sit on the back of an ambulance while Marty still followed for some reason. Once the doctor started asking Judy questions and giving her a general inspection before moving to her leg, only then did Marty begin to walk away. But just as she thought he was going to leave without giving her an answer he said while slightly turning back to her, "I'm not really at liberty to tell you that. But nothing sinister if that's what you're worried about."

Once he was out of earshot, Judy uttered quietly to herself, "That is  _not_  very reassuring."

After answering questions about the sensitivity of the area around the wound and a few others, her phone started buzzing in her pocket. Thinking it was probably her parents, she carefully pulled it out while trying not to move her right leg much as the doctor was beginning to clean it. To her surprise, it was Nick, not her parents.

"Hey Ni-"

"Carrots! There you are. I rang several times already. I just heard there was a huge savage attack in front of the ZPD. Are you alright?!"

Despite all that had happened in the past hour, Judy softly smiled at the care that was evident in his voice. "I'm fine Nick. Thanks for asking. Got a couple scratches on my leg but I got a doctor looking at it right now and I don't think... They're that bad?" She tentatively said while giving the doctor a questioning glance. Without looking up the beaver nodded in agreement. "So yeah, I'm good. How about you?"

Nick let out a hollow laugh out of both relief and humor. His new bunny friend was right in the middle of one of the worst savage attacks in the history of Zootopia and she has the audacity to ask how  _he_ is. "Oh, you know, just trying to hide from everyone ever even more than usual while avoiding getting hit in the head with about every throwable object there is. Nothing new."

"Why don't you head over to my place until the city calms down a bit. I should be there shortly." She didn't know why she just suggested that but it just felt right to offer. She wanted to see him and maybe it would be best for him to be indoors until the city calms down.

This bunny never failed to surprise him and Nick was a bit surprised by the offer. She trusted him  _that_  much even now? And because of his growing feelings for her, he felt like it was a bit early to be going over to her place, but he had to remember that she probably didn't feel the same. "Yeah sure Carrots. Just text me the address."

"I will. I'll see you there," Judy replied and then hung up.

As she put her phone away, the beaver spoke while wrapping some bandage around her shin. "Your leg should be perfectly fine in a weeks' time or so Officer Hopps. But until then I wouldn't recommend any particularly heavy leg work or jumping." Once he finished and asked if she needed anything else, which she didn't, Judy headed off.

* * *

When she came within sight distance of her apartment building she saw Nick just outside the front door with his back facing her, presumably on his phone. She was about to call out to him but instead decided to have a lil' fun and sneak up on him.

Completely unaware, Nick was looking through any and all news about the savage attack with a deep frown on his muzzle. While most of the public may not know about the jaguar incident that he and Judy dealt with the other night, that still made two savage attacks in the course of two days. And that made Nick incredibly nervous for multiple reasons.

"Hey Nick." Judy greeted, her voice sounding less full of life than usual to Nick's perceptive ears.

Turning around he saw Judy arriving just behind him and immediately noticed the subtle limp in her right leg. His ears fell back a little in concern for a moment then spoke with a smug teasing smile. "And here you said you were fine, lil' bunny."

"I  _am_  fine. I don't know what you could  _possibly_  be talking about." She replied humorlessly and in a monotone but Nick swore he could see and hear her already cheering up.

"Well either my sharp foxy eyes are useless or I see a limp in that right leg of yours." Nick said, purposefully setting up an easy counter to cheer her up.

"Hmm, guess your eyes are useless then." She countered with a small grin as she walked through the door and left it open for Nick to follow through. Victory was his.

"Still can't believe you live in The  _Grand Pangolin_  Apartments of all places. Does your landlady happen to be an armadillo?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"Fox! What're you doing in here? Leave immediately!" Said a female armadillo that looked like either a grandparent or a librarian coming (or both) around the front counter. She even had those sharp, red reading glasses below her eyes.

"She is." Judy finished with a sigh and continued walking, tugging Nick's arm to follow. "It's fine Ms. Arma, he's with me."

"Haven't you seen the news Bunny? A HUGE savage attack just happened. Preds should  _not_  be trusted." She said pointedly while pointing a pointed hoof at the fox who simply sent a kind smile to her in response.

While Judy walked up the stairs leading up to the floor with the apartments, she called back, "Well, I trust him with my life!" Nick already knew this to be true but he still loved hearing it.

After climbing a few sets of stairs, Nick got more than an eyeful of one of the less than glamorous apartment complexes. If he'd seen the interior alone he would've guessed that this was in Happytown. Once the duo arrived and entered Judy's tiny little apartment Nick's mouth fell agape. "You've  _GOT_ to be kidding me Carrots. This  _tiny_  little hole in the wall is where... you... live?"

Nick slowly stopped talking when he saw Judy standing like a statue in the middle of the floor. After closing the door behind him with a foot he inclined his head curiously and carefully inquired "Carrots?"

No response. A moment later. "Hopps?" Still nope.

Nick rarely ever called her by her first name because it just sounded weird rolling off his tongue. He much more preferred her nickname 'Carrots.' "Judy?" He tentatively asked while taking a couple steps forward.

Her first name finally broke the spell and she started moving again but still didn't turn around. So Nick stood patiently as she unclasped her vest, her badge, undid all her police gear and emptied her pockets onto the table while still avoiding eye contact.

She then moved to and sat on her bed, turning to the side and staring out the window with a deeply troubled look on her face. For a moment, Nick was unsure on what to do. He was still searching for a way to help her, when she turned her eyes to him and he understood immediately. The cool and collected mask that she had worn up to this point was gone.

He had caught glimpses of what was behind it earlier when he noticed something was off about her. Her ears laid down her back, legs tucked up in front of her and her arms circling her knees, she was a little ball of scared grey bunny.

Still standing there awkwardly, Nick placed both hands in his pockets while she began to speak. "I was right in the heart of it Nick. Right in the middle of the attack."

Nick made a silent  _oh_  and nodded his head. "I was with two other officers before it... One of them, before we... as we planned to deal with the protest, one of them, an elephant by the name of Francine, treated me with respect after I gave her and Clawhauser a command. It felt so... strange."

Recognizing how jumbled her thoughts were Judy looked up at Nick to see how he was faring and saw him awkwardly shifting his weight. She cracked a grin and chuckled, "Just sit over here you dumb fox."

Nick smiled softly and plopped down next to her and put his hands together between his legs and looked over at her, silently encouraging her to continue. Handling emotionally charged situations like this wasn't one of his strengths, but he had been through a few with Judy. He knew that it was best to just sit quietly and listen, ignoring his desire to add levity to the situation through quips. He relaxed and waited for her to tell her story.

Judy's features soon darkened as her thoughts returned to what had happened. "I was trying to convince a bunch of prey to disband from the protest and- yeah I know, right? We were surprised they were there too- Anyways, they refused to. Saying that even the 'famed Judy Hopps has become jaded' since I'm with the ZPD and we were just trying to keep the peace by disbanding the protest."

Judy paused, gathering her thoughts, then took a stabilizing breath and continued.

"Prey are joining The Surge now Nick." Judy whispered, turning to look at him with wide, emotional eyes. "Even though their members have blatantly stated that The Hood has a plan to 'bring down this rotten city on top of our heads.' Shortly after that..." Judy swallowed, the terrifying screams echoing in her mind. "A bunch of predators in the crowd went savage. I was trying to get mammals to safety when a leopard targeted a bunch of fleeing prey and I... well, I got her attention."

He wasn't going to say anything, but Judy expected him to so she beat him to it. "Wasn't the smartest thing I know, and you've told me not to be so impulsive. But, it was either confront the threat or let innocent mammals be hurt or killed. So, I got her attention, then she chased after me and managed to snag my leg with her claws. Which is the injury that you so thoughtfully inquired about. The CED is what ultimately saved me from her."

Nick lips twitched into a deeper frown momentarily at hearing that. Curse the CED and everything about them, but he also had to thank them for saving Judy. Talk about reluctant gratitude.

"Even Clawhauser stated he'd be on their side if he wasn't already with the ZPD, Nick." She said after another moment passed.

"What's a Clawhauser?"

"Oh, he's a big fluffy cheetah that works in records. He's become a friend of mine lately and he helped me uncover that information about the ZGate conspiracies and all that stuff."

"Well again Carrots, it's not The Surge's ideas and beliefs that are wrong. It's what they're doing. They're not  _helping_  anything. They're just stirring up the city's emotions and creating chaos. I don't know if they planned today's attack or not, but it seems suspiciously well timed, and it'd fit with what Moliere once said. He theorized The Surge is doing it to feed their own cause."

Judy looked up at him in shock but remembered him saying that as well. "It would add up." She agreed, nodding. For a few moments they sat in silence, each in their own world of thoughts.

"Oh, ha, and I'm on a forced vacation, courtesy of Bogo."

"A ' _forced'_  vacation? Haha what?"

"Yeah it was Bogo's solution-slash-punishment for all the trouble I've caused lately. Cause he found out about our, well he doesn't know you were there too, but he knows about 'my' interference with the CED's capture of Manchas and was understandably pissed. But oh, also, did you know that the reason The Surge were protesting there in front of the ZPD was because of me?"

"Come again?"

"Yeah, I don't know why. But it probably had something to do with the fiasco with Manchas. They must've twisted the story about our involvement or something turning me into a villain."

"Well talk about gratitude."

"Heh, right?"

Judy felt a lot better now. She had been afraid she was going to break down in front of Nick  _again,_  but just talking it out with him really seemed to help. Looking up at him with a fond smile while his eyes were elsewhere, she momentarily debated if she wanted to do what she was thinking about doing.

She did.

Nick was taken by surprise and looked down as the grey bunny wrapped her arms around his torso in a hug. As he stared down at her, she spoke into his fur. Fur that was surprisingly comfy to have a face full of. "Thank you, Nick." Then looking up at him she added, "thanks for being such a good friend. It means a ton."

His mouth was still slightly open but he closed it with a smile and slowly put his left arm around her as well to pull her in for a bit more of a real hug. "No problem Carrots."

* * *

Despite one of the worst savage attacks in the history of Zootopia, the city more or less stayed the same. It would make sense if it was a bit quieter as quite a few prey were even more afraid of predators now, but a great number of others were also shocked out of apathy by the day's events. One thing nearly every mammal could agree on that kept up on the news was that "something wasn't right about this city anymore."

The Surge was winning. Every day and night they were becoming more popular amongst the population and less popular amongst those in power. Things were going better than The Hood could've imagined.

However, despite their popularity increase, there were still some setbacks and a couple major issues that have arisen as of late. The biggest problem was the number of predators abducted by the CED and most likely taken to one of the Asylums. Some good agents were lost too. And speaking of agents, Wilde was still unaccounted for and could be feeding any of their enemy's information. The fact that no one will probably listen to him (or any other predator) after today was a welcome coincidence.

And that brought him back around to this ram he had found and captured. He wasn't sure where he fit on the list. "So, what DO I do with you... Jesse, was it? Are you on the naughty or nice list?"

"It's not even close to December you maniac!" The ram yelled from his chair, trying to aim his voice at the Fox. But in a small and dark room, it was hard to locate him exactly from just listening.

"Ha, maniac?" Came the far too cheerful reply given the situation. This fox was really creeping him out. "I've been called  _many_ things Mr. One-Eye but  _maniac_... That's one I haven't heard in a while." The voice seemed to come from behind him but then the next thing he knew his jaw got hit by what felt like a brick. Then a fist crashing into his nose caused his already limited vision to go blurry and was strong enough to tip his chair back. He was afraid he was gonna fall backwards while tied to the chair but then something stopped its decent. Falling forward onto its feet, and simultaneously coming out of the darkness was the vicious and snarling appearance of a red fox muzzle.

Instinctively, the sheep bleated loudly and before he could even feel embarrassed, the fox wrapped a paw with his claws fully extended around his throat. "Now," the fox growled, coming into a bit more of the light. " _WHO..._  are you working for?" The Hood asked while tightening his grip around the ram's throat to the point where his claws were dangerously close to piercing his skin. As if Jesse's heart wasn't already racing, it felt like he was gonna have a heart attack now.

Jesse had to presume this was the fabled Hood, but this blood red fox was shirtless and without any kind of hood on and was only wearing a loose pair of pants. The ram didn't know why he noticed this but he had to admit, the fox  _had_  to be working out. His muscles were freakin' toned. And it was hard to tell in the lighting but it looked like he had a few scars decorating his torso too. They didn't look like anything apart from basic cuts so maybe he was in some knife fights?

But now after both feeling and now seeing his physical strength, the scars and exactly who he was dealing with... No. He wasn't afraid.

Doing his best to stop himself from shaking, Jesse gathered his remaining strength and absolutely refusing to swallow -crap, he just swallowed- he spoke. "I. Don't. Fear. You. And I'm not telling you anything."

The fox snorted and suddenly let go, and disappeared back into the darkness. "Yeah, obviously not."

"How did you find me?"

"You're a sniper. I hate snipers. Always have. Face your opponents like a true male, a true soldier, not from a distance like a bunch of meek cowards. As such, I've learned where they like to hide and know what you'll do before you do it. That way I can counter you punks. Heads up!"

Something small and metallic was thrown into his face. When Jesse looked down with his good eye, it widened. It was a shock collar. A deactivated one too! That could only mean... "How did you-?"

"Are you a pirate, by the way?" At Jesse's confused look, the fox continued from somewhere around him, still using the dark to cloak himself. "With the eye patch and such, y'know. I wanna know so I can tell the story of how I killed you accurately."

"You wouldn't-" Before he could even finish the sentence, searing white hot pain in the form of a few lines slashed across his face, just barely under his good eye. Again, he couldn't withhold the primitive sounding scream of pain.

"WOULDN'T WHAT!? Do what I need to do?! Do what's necessary to finally get to the bottom of all this?!" The fox yelled so loud that it made his voice rebound of all the walls, further masking his position in the room. "I guess we'll see. But, even if  _you_ don't fear me, the people you work for should. Fear and I are quite familiar friends, and I must say-"

For a second the lights flickered, and then they were off for good. Leaving the ram utterly defenseless, in the dark, with one good eye and a few gashes under it that were surely swelling in a room with a maniacal red fox without a shock collar on.

" _Fear. Always. Works._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I talk a lot, I know. So what did you guys think? PLEASE tell me XD That scene ^ was supposed to be at least a little bit scary so did I succeed? Reviews, feedback and the general knowledge of how I did really helps fuel me everyone so please do so.


	12. Under Pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wohoo! I'm on a role baby! Two chapters in less than a month! And I don't think I'll be slowing down.
> 
> As always, credit where credit is due, huge thanks to a new editor, soon to be author, and friend of mine named TheoreticallyEva.
> 
> And, for anyone reading these, I feel no guilt about doing this: When she posts her story, you have GOT to read it. Hers is SOOOO much better than mine, like holy cheese and crackers everybody, it is SO good. I won't spoil the title or anything but this is her profile h u/2116301/ Go follow her or something. The Chemistry between Judy and Nick in her story is perfect, the story is already exciting and if it were entirely finished, I wouldn't be able to put it down.
> 
> SO, a bit different of a chapter this time. We're getting into the meat of the story now so I got some stuff I gotta get developing. Had lots of fun writing this chapter, (as always right?) so I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Disclaimer cuz I haven't done one in a while: Don't own Zootopia or any of the characters.

_Thu-Thu-Thu-THUD_

_SLAM!_

"Daddy, daddy, wake up! It's 5:30 already! Are you gonna sleep the whole day away?!" a young lady cried out as she barged into her father's bedroom after flying up the stairs.

After observing that he only shifted in his sleep, she giggled and jumped up onto his bed and concurrently, him. "Hehe, come on daddy. It's time to bring me to Mom's, and then you gotta go 'make the world a better place'!"

The enormous buffalo below her finally rolled onto his back, his daughter giggling as she struggled to stay on top of him. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the cute sight of his daughter, Amali wearing a light pink colored sundress.

"And that's exactly why I don't want to get up sweetie, 'cause maybe I want to keep you all to myself!"

"Hehe, naw that's not it. You just don't wanna deal with Mom. Now come on, up up up! Don't you have to be at work in like an hour anyways?" Chirped his daughter as she jumped off him and left the room skipping and humming a song that sounded suspiciously like something from  _Wrangled_.

After groaning at his six-year-old daughter's intelligence and energy at this unholy hour in the morning, Chief Bogo slowly sat up from his bed and rubbed the remnants of his somewhat restful sleep from his eyes.

Even after getting up at this time in the morning for almost two decades, he still  _hated_  mornings. Because in the morning... you had to wake up. And that's the worst. He could never fathom how mammals like his daughter could wake up and jump out of bed like a coiled spring.

He needed coffee.

Letting out a huge yawn, he set his mind on the first task of the day. Coffee. Make it. It was time to get on with his day.

* * *

_Thud. SLAM. Clip clop._

While Bogo and his daughter closed the car doors (Bogo more slamming his) in the driveway of an all-too-familiar house, a tall stern female looking buffalo walked out the front door and up to them. Niara was wearing what could only be described as the most stereotypical lawyer outfit there was: sleek black pants, black coat with a white undershirt below it and of course, some high heels too, making her just as tall as Bogo. What was it with lawyers always looking so crisp and professional? Are they always so robotic? The answer is yes. At least  _he_  had a switch between work mode and father/husband.

Amali was nonetheless happy to see her mother and ran up to her to give her a hug. After trading greetings and the usual pleasantries, Amali bid goodbye to her dad with a wave, and went inside with a skip to her step.

After a moment or two of silence in which neither knew what to say, Bogo bluntly said, "Take care of her."

"Always. I'm not the one to be concerned about, Adrian."

Adrian Bogo grunted and sent a glare at his ex-wife. "Don't give me that. You know I'd never let anything happen to her."

The female buffalo slightly softened her features at the admittedly somewhat... attractive sight of her ex-husband's very apparent love for her daughter. "It's not you personally I'm worried about, Adrian. It's those you affiliate with every day. The criminals. The predators. The crime lords. Just thinking about what they could do to get to you..."

"I know, I know," said Bogo placatingly. "And you know what I'm going to say and so on and so forth. So, have a good week with her, and I'll see you then."

This topic was one of the primary factors in splitting them apart. There were many other reasons as well, but with his promotion to chief of police and the birth of their daughter, they had argued frequently over the threat posed to their family by criminals who could use his family for leverage or revenge against him. That fear acted as a single seed that sprouted many other arguments that eventually led to their marriage falling apart.

"One last thing-have you seen the news?" she asked, following him from a distance as he opened the door to his cruiser.

Turning to look at her curiously, he replied, "Nooo, I'll do that when I get to my office. Why?"

Niara opened her mouth to respond but then got a better idea. With a devious smirk that gave Bogo a set of mixed feelings, she said, "I'll just let you find out for yourself. Or let the mayor update you with her daily tirade."

Bogo snorted in frustration that wasn't even justified yet. Somehow, he could already feel a headache building up from another attempt by the Mayor to rip his ears off through the phone.

"Guess that book hasn't been working out for you," Niara teased, recognizing that he was already getting irritated at this early hour of the morning.

"What bo-oh. No, I read it. It was helpful. Just haven't thought about it lately." Bogo admitted. The book being referred to was on meditation, breathing exercises and other methods to help control and manage stress and anger. It was a very helpful and thoughtful gift he received last Christmas.

Even though they were divorced, for the sake of their daughter and because their family was so small anyway, they would spend Christmas together and  _maybe_  get each other one or two gifts. However, they would focus their attention on their daughter.

"Well," his ex-wife awkwardly said as she shifted on her feet and looked back to the door that their daughter had recently walked through, "I'll see you in a week. Have a g-er... Later, Adrian."

Bogo caught the slip up but paid it no heed as he got in and drove to work. 'Twas just a remnant of a time long past. What he did give thought to was Niara's mention of the news. She kept very up to date on the news when they were still married, but he had to imagine she didn't have much of a reason to anymore without him to worry about. Or maybe she still did... Anyway.

He thought about turning on the radio and getting an early scoop on whatever was up, but they'd most likely twist and warp whatever happened during the short amount of time he wasn't playing "maid of the city." So, he waited until he sat down in his office chair, opened up his computer, and looked up the news to see what was so-

**BREAKING NEWS: The Surge Declares WAR against the ZPD**

"Oh," was about all Bogo could manage to say before he started raptly reading the ZNN article.

For the remaining time on the clock until he had to go down to the Bullpen, Bogo caught up on what had happened. Apparently, after yesterday's disastrous savage attack and full force appearance of the CED, The Surge and their followers took to social media to personally explain what had happened.

The Surge now had an official MuzzleBook page!

And on it, an allegedly undercover cop from the ZPD supposedly admitted not only to being sent to dismantle the organization from within, but also to having something to do with the savage attacks. What particular role they played though was unsaid.

' _Unsurprising. That's obviously Delgato, and he doesn't know anything more about them than the regular mammal.'_  Clever move by The Surge, but this was serious. The ZPD was going to be under enormous pressure to redeem themselves. ' _If the entire population of the city rallies behind them..._ ' Bogo didn't want to think about it.

Moving to his desk phone, he pressed a button on it and spoke. "Bogo to Forensics. Moliere, can you get up here?"

A moment later, the intercom opened with the mole snickering. "I was already planning on going up there at seven. Be right there, Chief."

After only a couple of minutes, there was a knock on the door. Once the mammal entered and was up on his desk, as he was even too small to sit in the chair, they started to talk.

"You wanted to see me, Chief?" The small rodent asked in his nasally French accent.

"Yes. I know the official report won't be done for a couple days, but answers are needed as soon as possible. Did you and your team find anything out there?"

"No, sir. Nothing. Not yet at least. And bear in mind, we're looking for a few needles in a haystack. We also looked around for any sort of sign that something in the park itself caused it, like an allergic reaction or something, as you requested, but nothing's been found. And without access to the captured savages, we don't even know exactly what we're looking for. You could basically say this is a wild rabbit chase."

"Don't use such outdated phrases as that in my presence. We're not in the Stone Age, Moliere."

"Sorry, sir. But hey, despite the bad news, I think today's gonna be a rather good day, sir."

"Mm." Somehow, he doubted that. "Why's that?"

"Because speaking of rabbits, today Hopps' 48-hour time limit runs out, and you can finally get rid of her."

Bogo raised an eyebrow at the visible hostility he showed to her. "Sounds like you're also saying that for your own sake. What do you have against her? I thought you were on her side, since you're both on the smaller end of the size spectrum."

"Meh. I don't care about an animal's size. I care about who the person is. And I'm on nobody's side. Besides, it's not like she's done any good 'round here. She might as well just start digging her own grave with all the mammals that's she pissed off."

For some inexplicable reason, Bogo was feeling more than a little defensive at the mole's clear disdain for the bunny officer. What had she ever done to him? Had they even met? He probably had as little an idea of what she was capable of than all the rest of the officers here.

"Did you know that on her  _first_ day of meter maiding, I had goaded her into writing a hundred parking tickets in a day, and she ended up writing  _two hundred_ before noon?" he asked.

Moliere shrugged his little shoulders and looked off to the side disinterestedly. "Meh, she's a bunny. She can move fast."

Bogo pursed his lips and frowned. That was a flippin' impressive feat. How was Moliere not impressed in the slightest? And why was Bogo still bothered by Moliere's dismissal of her achievements?

"Did you know that she fought off a savage jaguar and defended him from the CED, trying to get him to the hospital instead of straight to the asylum?" Bogo tried again.

This time, Moliere crossed his little arms and sneered while still looking away like it was a bad memory or something. He didn't respond vocally right away either, like he was debating what to say. What was his deal? "No, I did not," the mole replied. "But wouldn't that piss of the CED?"

"Yes, that would, which is why she's currently suspended."

"Ah. Well, good..." And yet another awkward moment or two of silence passed like the last time that Moliere and he had spoken. The scientist didn't used to be so irritable, they'd quite often have enjoyable conversations at this time in the morning. What had changed? And why did Bogo feel so annoyed with Moliere's apparent dislike of Hopps?

' _Fine, time to bring out the big gun.'_

"Well, if that's all you needed, then I'll-" Moliere tried to say, turning slightly to leave.

"One last thing. Did you know she found The Fox's Den?"

Moliere whipped his pointed snout back around and with eyes wide in shock exclaimed, "She did?!"

Bogo smirked in victory. ' _Knew that would work.'_  "Yup, she did. All on her own. But if you have other things to be doing, you can go."

As if he didn't even hear that, the little rodent forensic scientist continued. "How did she find it? Where is it? Why aren't we moving on it?"

"Well, for starters I'm not positive she found it. It's just likely. And she didn't mention where it is in the slightest."

"Hmph." And with recross of his arms and a scathing look to the side, his foul mood was back, and so was Bogo's. But before anything further could be said by either of them, Bogo dismissed him and he exited quickly and obediently.

"Uggghh." Bogo groaned and rested his head in both his hands, rubbing his temples. What a morning this was already shaping up to be. All he needed now was-

_Ring-ring-ring-ring_

"Ugggghhh, WHAT DO YOU WANT BELLWETHER?!" Bogo roared at the phone while slamming a fist onto the table so hard it would've cracked if the table wasn't already reinforced with metal for this exact reason.

While the phone continued to ring, Bogo closed his eyes and practiced those breathing and meditation techniques from that book his ex-wife had gotten him to help him cope with frustration and manage his anger.

Once the phone was nearly on its last ring, Bogo delicately picked it up and spoke in the softest and most delightful-sounding voice he could muster. "Yes, Mayor Bellwether?"

"Oh gross, drop that tone immediately, Adrian. I hate disingenuous mammals." In the blink of an eye, Bogo's super happy and friendly smile changed to that of his regular deep frown that he wore while on this type of call.

"I thought these calls were going to become less frequent for reasons we discussed last time we  _chatted,_ " Bogo deadpanned.

"They are. But because of the incredibly ballsy move by those nuisances, I need you to assign your forensics team to pick apart the field to find any and all of the foxes out there to identify their leader-the one who is going by the name The Hood. Which, by the way, how creative a name is that?! Like, what, did mammals see him wearing a sweater hood and go, 'Oh, gee, I wonder what we should call him?' 'How 'bout the hood?' 'Brilliant!'"

She chuckled at her own humor for a moment, and when she heard nothing from Bogo her tone took a one-eighty-degree turn. "That was a joke, Adrian. Laugh, dammit!"

In the most sluggish and obviously unamused voice, he uttered, "Ha...Ha."

"Hey, you're the one who wanted me to be more friendly and lighthearted once in a while. Well, this is me trying. I don't see  _you_  trying to be funny. But anyway, back to business. Forensics team. Field. Do it."

"They're already on it," Bogo countered. It was a small white lie. That's not what they were looking for, but he could easily make that minor adjustment.

"Good. Then we have nothing more to discuss."

"Yes, we do." Bogo boldly interjected before she hung up. He swore he could hear the glare she sent through the phone. "The Surge officially declared war on the ZPD this morning, if you didn't notice. Why aren't we talking about that?"

"What's to talk about?" She asked, sounding bored. "They can't even declare war anyways. They're not a country."

"The message is the same."

"Yeah, it is. All I hear is that a group of power hungry and whiny preds want attention. Well I'm not gonna give it to them, and neither are you. The CED will handle them."

"Speaking of them, do you know how many reporters said that their cruelty levels were-" Before he could finish his question, he was interrupted by the sound of the call ending. For a minute or so, the only sound is the room was Bogo's breathing as he tried to not freak out. He just couldn't believe the gall of that pompous little sheep.

After another moment, Bogo realized he was gripping the phone so tightly it was a wonder it didn't shatter into splinters in his hand. Clenching his jaw so tight it made his teeth ache, he reeled his arm back to slam the phone into its holder and then remembered the book.

So he very delicately and lightly put the phone back in its place.

He was about to get to work on his computer when the clock caught his eye, and he realized he was late for the bullpen meeting.

"OH FOR FU-"

* * *

_THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD._

_WHO. WHO. WHO. WHO._

Ugh he hated that sound. It was his officers' daily morning greeting- slam their fists on the table and do some weird chorus chanting thing like they're trying to summon something. Well, what they are succeeding in summoning was an already irate buffalo with a pounding headache.

" _SHUT IT!"_  he yelled as soon as he was inside the room.

They all sat down immediately upon hearing the inordinately loud command. Once Bogo tossed his folder with a spin onto the podium and looked up, a small smirk was inevitable at the sight before him.

A couple dozen experienced and hardened officers, all mammals that were decently sized relative to him, looked like a bunch of children caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Sorry," he said with a grin, then flipped the switch back into his usual persona. "Right then, got a couple things on the docket before assignments. First, we have a high priority missing mammal case on our paws. Jesse Pinkman. Sheep. Assistant secretary to the mayor. So, big deal.

"Second. After yesterday's savage attack, many school principals have requested that the ZPD send some officers to talk to the schools about safety around predators and what to do during a savage attack. I'll give out more information to the volunteers. Unless there aren't any, in which case, I'll assign that randomly.

"Now, unless anyone has any questions, assignments are as-"

To the surprise of everyone in the room, a hesitant paw-or rather the hoof of a hippo was risen into the air. "Officer Gloria?" Bogo addressed. As she lowered her hand, she was suddenly embarrassed by the sensation of her coworkers' eyes on her.

"Uh... Sir. I was wondering if you had anything to say about what... what we all, I mean, what some of us may have seen on the news this morning about... The Surge declaring war against us...?"

Once the question was out there, many different officers started nodding their heads and turning their attention back to Bogo with curious and attentive looks. Put on the spot, Bogo saw and felt all eyes on him now. He had half a mind to deflect the question and ease their concerns by saying, "It's no big deal." But that'd be doing exactly what the Mayor just did to him, and that just pissed him off.

After he gathered his thoughts for a moment, he carefully spoke. "For one, the mayor isn't concerned in the slightest. She and I just had a chat about this turn of events, and I am not too concerned either... However, I must advise everyone to be on their guard at all times in case The Surge makes a move on us. You all know the procedures for dealing with violent civilians, predator or prey."

"With respect Sir, are we ever going to do something about them?" Francine asked. Again, many officers nodded their heads in agreement to the question.

Bogo heaved a small sigh. That was a good question. He once told himself that he was keeping the ZPD off The Surge's tail so Delgato could infiltrate them in safety, but now that he wasn't on their side (most likely), that excuse was moot.

"I'll come clean with you all. The mayor has the ZPD's hands wound tight. According to regulations, the CED are the ones supposed to deal with predators that are acting up, at least most of the time. We're supposed to be the other half, so to speak. So The Surge publicly threatening us puts us in a tricky spot."

"Aren't we supposed to protect and serve everyone, regardless of species, gender, or beliefs? How was that legal? We're supposed to be the guardians of peace in Zootopia!" The elephant pressed, raising her voice in the slightest.

"I KNOW Francine." Bogo sternly stated. "Please sit down."

Reluctantly and slowly, she did. Before Bogo continued, another officer couldn't resist making a remark under his breath. "When did you become a Hopps impersonator?"

"HEY! Well, when did everyone here suddenly-" Before she could even finish her accusation, the entire room erupted into one big argument.

"ENOUGH!" Bogo yelled out over all of them, easily overpowering their voices. "I don't need you all fighting each other. Tensions are already very high in the city. If even we start fighting amongst ourselves, the city is doomed."

Bogo paused, looking out over everyone. Francine was still glaring at the Pig officer who spoke up, but for the most part, everyone else returned to normal.

"On the note of the city's wellbeing, I will say this: it would be to everyone's benefit to avoid further escalating the city-wide situation and be the least prejudicial towards predators as possible. And for the record, Francine is right. We are supposed to protect and serve  _everyone_." While he said this, there were numerous uncomfortable and judgmental looks shared between several officers.

"The Surge has put us in a tricky situation, and their leader no doubt did that on purpose." Bogo continued, returning their attention to him. "Before I give out your assignments, I leave you all with this question: if we don't set the example of how things should be and follow the law, who will?" Bogo scanned his audience to see their reactions and some of the officers that were angry or uncomfortable a moment ago now looked thoughtful. Good.

"Right then. So, assignments are as follows..."

Once he finished reading out all the assignments and the room was devoid of officers, instead of promptly returning to his office, Bogo stood there behind the podium in thought. He had been  _so close_  to telling everyone to do much more than "be less prejudicial," and even that wasn't well received.

Even if he did tell them to do... something... about The Surge or the growing chaos in the city, he'd be going against what the Mayor told him to do. And despite all her tirades and irritating phone calls, Bogo couldn't disagree with her methods and what she has been doing these last few years. Or rather... he hadn't been disagreeing with her until The Surge showed up in the city.

' _These are just tumultuous times,'_  he tried to tell himself. ' _Everyone's acting differently.'_

But it wasn't just that, was it? It was how inactive she'd been forcing him and the ZPD to be. How she kept brushing off serious threats like the declaration of war like they were nothing. The Surge wasn't going anywhere, and her precious CED weren't helping!

But since when was he a critic of the mayor and everything they stood for anyway? Where did all this doubt and extra judgment come from?

Well... If he had to guess, that call he received two nights ago probably caused this crack in his resolve. She really stirred things up in him that night.

* * *

"And Ashley was going to tell me this joke during lunch, but she started laughing so hard before she even finished it that her chocolate milk went up and out her nose which ended up being funnier than her joke was!" Amali broke into hysterics as she finished her story, practically kneeling over herself on the stool she was sitting on by the island table.

Bogo warmly smiled at the sound of his delightful daughter's laughter. "What was that joke? I think I'd like to hear it," he kindly asked as he continued cooking and adding ingredients to a giant pot of soup.

"Nah Daddy, if it didn't even make  _me_  laugh, it won't even make  _you_  giggle."

At that, Bogo actually did laugh. A sound that Amali loved to hear, as it was such a rare treasure. "Try me. Maybe it's just one of those pun-like jokes that you're too smart to get."

Amali giggled at the reference. She often had trouble catching puns and even if she did understand them, she just didn't find them funny. But the former observation was pointed out by a classmate of hers and hurt her feelings, and when she confided in her father, he simply told her that "only stupid heads like those anyways, I guess that's why you don't like them." It took her a second to catch onto what he was saying, but when she did, she gave him a big tearful hug.

"Ok Daddy. It went something like, 'one day there was a fox walking down a street when, no wait... there was a truck going down an alley when... No, urgh, hold on. Um..." Bogo smiled nonetheless as she tried to remember the joke correctly. Something about her was just so adorable.

Keeping an ear on his daughter in case she fully remembered it, he returned his attention to cooking, but then his phone started buzzing in his pocket. So, with one hand he pulled it out. And in that second that it took to glance at the caller ID, his night went from an amazing one to... Well, one not as good.

"Oh no, that's not who I think it is, is it Daddy?" Amali asked, craning her head to try to get a view of the buzzing phone in her father's hand.

"Like I've said, you're too smart for your own good." Bogo glumly mumbled as he turned the heat down to low. Heaving a sigh and accepting the call before it timed out, he patted her little head and spoke clearly enough that the mammal on the other end could hear, "I'll be right back Amali. This  _won't_   _take long_."

As Bogo walked down the hallway to his office, the mammal on the other end apparently couldn't wait any longer. "Alright Bogo, this is-"

"I'm not in my office yet, hold on," Bogo interrupted before she could even start with the tirade he was sure was coming.

Once he stepped into his office and closed the door so his daughter wouldn't have to hear any of the adult nonsense he was just about to be forced to talk about, he whipped around as if facing the mammal responsible for ruining his night and growled out, "WHAT?"

"Don't you ' _WHAT' ME_  Adrian like  _I'm_  the villain. Do you have any idea what happened tonight?"

Before he could respond, "No, you don't, 'cause you were off busy having fun playing detective with our dear rug turned spy. As you might recall, I had a large CED shipment of crowd controlling equipment to combat the growing number of Surge protests on the way this evening. It didn't arrive. Now ask me why."

Bogo gritted his teeth and mumbled out a low, "Why?"

"Why what? Be specific Adrian."

"Why didn't it arrive?"

"Because somehow The Surge knew about it! They somehow knew what was within the convoy, where they were going, and when to strike so nothing was caught on the traffic cameras!

"Now either that rug has already turned on us which, let me remind you, was  _exactly_ what I warned you about when you suggested getting a predator to infiltrate The Surge. OR, there's a mole in the ZPD feeding information to them. However, even if that pred has betrayed us, he wouldn't know about CED movements. So thus, more likely, it's the latter. And guess who is at the top of my suspect list."

Bogo had listened to a countless number of tirades and endured an endless onslaught of insults but this was a new low even for her. Suspect  _him,_  the CHIEF of police to be a double agent?! "When have you ever had a reason to suspect me of that?"

"How about when you found a loophole in the law to perform a publicity stunt without my say so and hired several predators? How about all the times you tried to interfere in CED business? All the insubordination attempts? The time the ZPD was investigated by the FBI for connection to the ZGate conspiracies? Need I go on?

"Regardless of the identity of the mole, Adrian Bogo, I would watch. Your. Step."

And then it was over with the sound of a dull double beep signaling the caller had hung up. ' _Bitch,'_  he cursed mentally.

Before he returned to his waiting daughter though, he gave himself a moment to process what had just been thrown at him. It was quite a lot. A CED convoy was raided by The Surge, and he was just accused of being a traitor.

And another thing was that Delgato was right. That night, when he met up with the lion, the feline had warned him that "it was all a front," that there was always an ulterior motive going on with The Surge's activities. The protest didn't just help add numbers to their cause, it was also a distraction. Keep the eyes of the CED and ZPD on them while actual members of The Surge go and attack a convoy.

But there was also the concerning matter that Bellwether thought there was a mole in his department.

That was a problem on many levels. It could just be her angry theorizing and should be blown off to the side, but the possibility that she was right, and the price he would pay if he ignored it was too daunting. But who could it be? If there even was one... Hopps possibly? No that wouldn't make sense. How would she know anything about a CED convoy?

He didn't give it any further thought though and returned to his daughter with a forced smile, one that she was sad to observe but immediately felt determined to make genuine.

* * *

That night made him realize how clever The Surge really was. Clearly Delgato was entirely correct about everything being a front. They always had an ulterior motive.

But if that was the case, then what was the ulterior motive yesterday? What was the real reason for it? Was it the savage attack? Did they... do that to themselves? Why would they do that? To further their own cause about how mistreated they were?

He had so many questions now. So many things he needed to know. And there was so much pressure upon him to find them from not only the mayor, but his cops, his family, and himself. For if he didn't find out the truth of what was going on, they could all be in danger.

And besides him, there was only one cop out there who was capable of making progress on answering these questions and as he looked at the chair where she usually sat, he was reminded that she wasn't here.

Because she was on a vacation right now. One that he sent her on because "he didn't want her here." Bogo grumbled in frustration at his decision making skills as he left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Tell me what ya thought! Did I get you to chuckle once or twice? Did you see that big reveal coming from a mile away or did I keep it close enough to my chest you didn't see that coming?


End file.
